55  <*  **i*SFfy 


<!^i*o<;xu  v-*^' 


BS  1515  .M681  1897 
Mitchell,  Hinckley  G.  T. 

1846-1920. 
Isaiah 


ISAIAH 


A  STUDY  OF  CHAPTERS  I.-XII. 


BY 

H.   G.    MITCHELL 

PROFESSOR  IN  BOSTON  UNIVERSITY 


oXXc 


NEW  YORK :   46  East  14TH  Street 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  COMPANY 

BOSTON  :    100  Purchase  Street 


Copyright,  1897, 
By  H.   G.   MITCHELL 


NortoooB  I3rcss 

J.  S.  Cmhing  &  Co.  -  Berwick  k  Smith 

Norwood  Mase.  U.S.A. 


8T0  fflto  mih 

IN    RECOGNITION    OF 

HER    SYMPATHY    AND    ASSISTANCE 

IN  ALL  MY  UNDERTAKINGS 


PREFACE. 


The  favor  with  which  my  little  book  on  Amos1  was 
received  has  emboldened  me  to  undertake  a  more  diffi- 
cult task;  vis.  the  interpretation  of  parts  of  the  book 
of  Isaiah. 

This  work,  like  the  preceding,  has  grown  out  of 
lectures  delivered  to  my  classes  in  the  School  of  Theol- 
ogy. I  have  simply  expanded  them,  and  arranged  their 
contents  in  a  way  to  make  them  useful,  not  only  to  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  but  to  other  even  less  advanced 
students  of  the  Bible. 

The  plan,  too,  of  this  book  is  essentially  the  same  as 
that  of  its  predecessor.  This  one  has  none  of  the  sup- 
plementary studies  found  in  the  other.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  good  reason  for  their  absence.  They  could  not 
well  be  written  until  I  had  finished  my  studies  in  the 
prophecies.  They  will  appear  in  a  second  volume  on 
chapters  xiii.-xxxix.,  if  I  am  spared  to  complete  it. 

In  one  respect  I  think  that  I  have  improved  upon  my 
original  plan.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
style   of    most    commentaries    not   only   confuses   the 

1  Amos  :  an  Essay  in  Exegesis.     Boston,  1 893. 
5 


6  PREFACE. 

reader,  but  sometimes  actually  distorts  the  meaning  of 
the  sacred  writers.  I  have,  therefore,  in  this  book, 
more  completely  than  in  the  other,  abandoned  it,  and 
undertaken  to  present  my  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
Isaiah,  or  his  editor,  in  the  form  of  a  continuous  discus- 
sion, which,  I  trust,  will  be  found  more  nearly  correct 
as  well  as  more  readable. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  book  I  have  consulted  all 
the  leading  "authorities"  on  my  subject,  and  many  of 
less  reputation ;  but,  since  the  object  of  references  is  not 
to  display  the  breadth  of  an  author's  reading,  but  to 
help  his  readers  to  a  more  exact  knowledge  and  less 
partial  conclusions,  I  have  made  them  only  when  I 
thought  that  they  would  be  of  value.  My  method  has 
been,  as  a  rule,  to  name  the  authors  of  the  more  im- 
portant critical  suggestions  mentioned,  but  not  to  quote 
an  authority  for  an  interpretation  for  which  a  given 
passage,  its  context,  or  any  other  source  of  information 
bearing  upon  it,  seemed  to  me  to  furnish  sufficient  evi- 
dence that  the  average  student  would  understand  and 
appreciate.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  felt  it  my  duty 
to  give  the  name,  either  of  the  originator,  or  a  worthy 
representative,  of  any  theory  or  interpretation  men- 
tioned only  to  be  rejected,  that  such  as  cared  so  to 
do  might  give  it  further  examination. 

I  need  not  apologize  for  not  pointing  the  Hebrew 
words  in  the  notes  unless  they  were  liable  to  be  mis- 
understood by  one  somewhat  familiar  with  the  language 


PREFACE.  7 

of  the  Old  Testament ;  nor  for  following  the  growing 
fashion  of  citing  books  by  the  initials  of  the  principal 
words  in  their  titles.  I  have  not,  however,  as  some  late 
authors  seem  to  me  to  have  done,  carried  the  practice 
of  abbreviating  in  citations  so  far  as  to  disfigure  the 
printed  page  and  hinder  any  but  the  expert  reader  in 
getting  a  knowledge  of  its  contents.  I  should  dislike  to 
have  my  book  mistaken  for  a  collection  of  conundrums. 

The  number  of  books  used  in  the  preparation  of  this 
volume  should  not  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  size 
of  the  outfit  required  for  the  study  of  Isaiah.  The 
average  student  really  needs  but  few  of  them.  If  he 
reads  the  original,  he  will  of  course  have  a  good  gram- 
mar and  lexicon.  In  addition  he  should  have  a  Bible 
dictionary,  and  one  or  two  independent  works  on  ancient 
history  and  the  geography  of  Palestine.  He  should 
also  provide  himself  with  Driver's  Introduction  to  the 
Old  Testament  and  Cheyne's  Introduction  to  the  Book 
of  Isaiah.  The  most  useful  commentaries  accessible  in 
English  are  those  of  Skinner,  Orelli,  and  Delitzsch, 
and,  if  one  wishes  to  go  into  a  comparative  study  of 
opinion,  that  of  Alexander.  One  who  is  familiar  with 
German  should  have  the  critiques  of  Giesebrecht  and 
Hackmann,  and  the  commentaries  of  Duhm  and  Dill- 
mann,  especially  the  former. 

H.   G.   M. 

Boston  University,  June,  1897. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface        5 

Books  and  Authors  cited 9 

Introductory  Studies 15 

Isaiah  the  Prophet           .         .         .         .         .         .  15 

The  Times  of  Isaiah       .         .         .         .         .         .  31 

The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah         ......  48 

Translation  and  Comments 60 

Translation       .........  60 

Comments 81 

Indexes 257 

8 


BOOKS   AND   AUTHORS   CITED.* 


TRANSLATIONS  AND   COMMENTARIES^ 

Aben  Ezra;    1 155;   Eng.,  The  Commentary  of  Ibn  Ezra  on  Isaiah,  Fried- 
lander,  London,  1873. 
Alexander,  J.  A.,  Commentary  on  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  3  vols.  8vo, 

Edinburgh,  1865. 
Barnes,  Albert,  The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  3  vols.  8vo,  New  York, 

1840. 
Earth,  J.,  Beitr'dge  zur  Erklarung  des  Jesaia,  Karlsruhe,  1SS5. 
Bredenkamp,  C.  J.,  Der  Prophet  fesaia,  Erlangen,  1887. 
Brenz,  Johann,  Esaias  Commentariis  explicatus,  Frankfurt,  1550. 
Buhl,  Frants,  Jesaja,  Copenhagen,  1894. 
Calvin,  John,    Commentarii  in  Isaiam  Prophetam,  Geneva,   155 1;    Eng., 

Pringle,  Edinburgh,  1850. 
Cheyne,  T.  K.  The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah?  New  York,  1884. 
Delitzsch,    Franz,    Commentar   iiber   das   Buch  fesaia^   Leipzig,    18S9; 

Eng.,   The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  Edinburgh,  1890. 
de  Dieu,  Louis,  A nimadver stones  in    Veteris    Testamenti  Libros  omnes, 

Leyden,  1648. 
Dillmann,  August,  Der  Prophet  fesaia?  Leipzig,  1890. 
Doderlein,  J.  C,  Esaias?  Altorf,  1789. 
Duhm,  Bernh.,  Das  Buch  fesaia,  Gottingen,  1892. 
Eichhorn,  J.  G.,  Die  Hebr'dischen  Propheten?  Gottingen,  1816-19. 
Ewald,  Heinrich,  Die  Propheten  des  Alten  Bundes?  Gottingen,  1867. 
Gesenius,  Wilh.,  Commentar  iiber  den  fesaia,  Leipzig,  1821. 
Henderson,  E.,  The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  London,  1840. 
Henry,  Matthew,  An  Exposition  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  London, 

1710;   New  York,  1876. 

*  The  great  versions  are  not  included  in  the  list. 
t  These  are  always  cited  by  the  name  of  the  author. 


10  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS   CITED. 

Hitzig,  Ferdinand,  Der  Prophet /esaia,  Heidelberg,  1S33. 

Jerome,  Commentarii  in  Esaiam  Prophetam,  410;    Opera,  IV.  ed.  Vallar- 

sius,  Verona,  1734  ff. 
Kautsch,   E.,  Die  Heilige   Schrift   des   Allen    Testaments,  Freiburg    i/B, 

!-94. 
Kay,  \\\,    The  Bible  Commentary,  V.   Isaiah,   London  and  New  York, 

1871-81. 
Kimchi,  David  (d.   1235);   Lat.,  Comtnenlarins  in  Jesajam,  Malanimeo, 

nee,  1774. 
Knobel,  August,  Der  Prophet  /esaia?  Leipzig,  1861. 
Koppe,  J.  !'>.,  I.owth's  /esaias,  Leipzig,  1779-81. 
Lowth,  Robert,  Isaiah,  London,  1 77S ;    Boston,10  1834. 
Luzzatto,  S.  D.,  II  Profeta  Isaia,  Padua,  1855. 
Michaelis,   J.   D.,    Uebersetzung  des   Alten     Testaments,   VI.,   Gottingen, 

1777-86. 
Nagelsbach,  C.  W.  E.,  Lange's  Bibehverk,  Der  Prophet  /esaia,  Bielefeld, 

1877;    Lug-,  Lowrie  &  Moore,  New  York,  1S84. 
von  Orelli,  C,  A'urzgefasster  Kommentar,  IV.,  Der  Prophet  /esaia,  Nord- 

lingen,  1SS7;  Eng.,  The  Prophecies  0/  Isaiah,  Banks,  Edinburgh,  18S9. 
Reuss,  Eduard,  Das  Alte  Testament,  II.,  Braunschweig,  1892-94. 
Rosenniuller,  E.  F.  C,  Scholia  in  Vetus   Testamentum?  III.  1,  Leipzig, 

1S29. 
Saadia,   Gaon    (d.    942) ;    R.    Saadiae    Versio  /esaiae   Arabica,   Paulus, 

Jena,  1790. 
Skinner,  J.,  The  Cambridge  Bible,  Isaiah,  Cambridge,  1896. 
Smith,  G.  A.,   The  Expositor's  Bible,   The  Book  of  Isaiah,  London  and 

New  York,  1S90. 
Umbreit,  F.  W.  C.,  Praktischer  Commentar  iiber  den  /esaia,"1  Hamburg, 

1S46. 
Vitringa,   Campegius,   Commentarius   in    librum   Prophetiarum  /esajae, 

Leeuwarden,  1714-20. 
Zwingli,  Ulrich,  Conlemplationes  Isaiae  Prophelae,  Zurich,  1529. 


BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS   CITED.  11 


OTHER    WORKS* 

BSthgen,  Friedrich,  Beitrage  zur  Semitischen  Religionsgeschichte,  Berlin, 

iSSS. 
Baudissin,  W.  W.,  Studien  zur  Semitischen  Religionsgeschichte,  Leipzig, 

1876  and  1878. 
Beecher,  W.  J.,  Journal  of Biblical  Literature,  1S92. 
Bickell,  Gustav,  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti,  Innsbruck,  1882. 
Bottcher,    Friedrich,   Ausfiihrliches   Lehrbuch   der   Hebraischen   Sprache, 
Leipzig,  1866  and  1868. 

ATeue  Aehrenlese  zutlt  Alien  Testament,  Leipzig,  1 863. 
Brown,  Francis,  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1890. 
Budde,  Karl,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Alttestamentliche  Wissenschaft,  1S91. 
Cheyne,  T.  K.,  Lntroduction  to  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  London,  1895. 
Cobb,  \V.  H.,  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1 89 1. 
Conder,  C.  R.,  Tent  Work  in  Palestine,  London  and  New  York,  1878. 
Cornill,  C.  H.,  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament,  Freiburg  i/B,  1S91. 

Der  Israelitische  Prophetismus,  Strassburg,  1S94;    Eng.,  The  Proph- 
ets of  Israel,  Chicago,  1S95. 
Zeitschrift  fiir  die  Alttestamentliche  Wissenschaft,  1884. 
Davidson,  A.  B.,  Hebrew  Syntax,  Edinburgh,  1S94. 
Davidson,  Samuel,  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament,  London,  1862. 
Delitzsch,  Friedrich,  Wo  lag  das  Parodies  ?  Leipzig,  1SS1. 
Driver,  S.  R.,  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament?  London 
and  New  York,  1S94. 

Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  Oxford,  1890. 
Use  of  the  Tenses  in  Hebrew?  Oxford,  1892. 
Duncker,  Max,  Geschichte  des  Alter thums,5  Leipzig,  1S7S-79;    Eng.,  His- 
tory of  Antiquity,  Abbott,  London,  1877-82. 
Durell,  David  (d.  1775),  Manuscript  on  the  prophets,  quoted  by  Lowth. 
Ewald,   Heinrich,  Ausfiihrliches  Lehrbuch   der  Hebraischen  Sprache  des 

Allen   Testaments,8  Gottingen,  1870. 
Frere,  J.  H.,  Works,  New  York,  1874. 

Furst,   Julius,   Librorum    Sacrorum    Veteris    Testamenti    Concordantiae, 
Leipzig,  1840. 

Der  Kanon  des  Alien  Testaments,  Leipzig,  1S68. 

*  The  grammars  are  cited  by  the  abbreviated  names  of  their  authors,  the  rest  by  the 
names  of  their  authors,  usually  with  the  initial  letters  of  the  principal  words  in  their 
titles. 


12  BOOK'S  AND  AUTHORS   CITED. 

Geikie,  Cunningham,  The  Holy  Land  and  the  Bible,  London,  1887;   New 

York,   1888. 
Gesenius,  W'ilhelm,  Hebr'dische  Grammatik,  ed.  Kautsch,25  Leipzig,  1889; 

Lng.,  E.  C.  Mitchell,  Boston,  1S94. 
Ilebrdisches  und  Aramdisches  Handworterbuch  Uber  das  Alte  Tes- 
tament, ed.  Miihlau-Volck,  Leipzig,  1886. 
Nov  us   Thesaurus  Linguae  Hebraeiae  et  Chaldaeae  Veteris  Testa- 
tnenti*  Leipzig,  1829-58. 
Giesebrecht,  Friedrich,  Beitrdge  zur  Jesaiakritik,  Gottingen,  1890. 
Guthe,  Hermann,  Zeitschrift  des  Deutsclien  Paldstina-Vereins,  1882. 

Das  Zukunftsbild  des  Jesaia,  Leipzig,  18S5. 
Hackmann,  H.,  Die  Zukunftserwartung  des  Jesaia,  Gottingen,  1893. 
Hengstenberg,  E.  W.,  Christologie  des  Alien  Testaments?  Berlin,  1854-57; 

Eng.,  Christology  of  the  Old  Testament,  Edinburgh,  1854-59. 
Herodotus  (d.  408  ±),  History,  Rawlinson,  London,  1858. 
Houbigant,  C.  F.,  Biblia  Hebraica,  Paris,  1753. 

Jastrow,  Morris,  Jr.,  Zeitschrift  fur  Altlestamentliche  Wissenschaft,  1896. 
Josephus,  Flavius  (d.  103  ±),  Opera,  ed.  Bekker,  Leipzig,  1855;    Eng., 

ed.  W'histon-Shilleto,  London,  1890. 
J  urnal  of  Biblical  Literature,  Boston. 
Kamphausen,   Adolf,   Die   Chronologie   der   Hebrdischen   K'onige,  Bonn, 

1883. 
Kellner,  M.  L.,  The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  Cambridge  (Mass.),  1895. 
Kittel,  R.,  Geschichte  der  Hebraer,  Gotha,  18SS  and  1892;  Eng.,  A  History 

of  the  Hebrews,  Taylor,  Hogg,  and  Speirs,  London,  1895-96. 
Klostermann,  August,  Kurzgefasster  Kommentar,  III.,  Die  Bilcher  Sam- 

ttelis  u.  der  K'onige,  Nordlingen,  1887. 
Kocher,  D.,   Vindiciae  Textus  Hebraei  Essaiae,  Bern,  1786. 
KSnig,  F.  E.,  Historisch- Kritisches  Lehrgebdude  der  Hebrdischen  Sprache, 

Leipzig,  1881  and  95. 
Krochmal,  Abraham,  Haksaw  Wehaniiktow,  oder  Schrift  und  Umschrift, 

Lemberg,  1875. 
de  Lagarde,  Paul,  Academy,  1870. 
Semitica,  Gottingen,  1878. 
Layard,  A.  H.,  Inscriptions  in  the  Cuneiform  Character,  London,  1851. 
McCurdy,  J.  F.,  History,  Prophecy,  and  the  Monuments,  London  and  New 

York,  1S96. 
Meyer,  Eduard,  Geschichte  des  Alterthums,  Stuttgart,  18S4  and  1893. 
Mitchell,  H.  G.,  Amos,  Boston,  1893. 
An  dove r  Review,  189 1. 


BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS   CITED.  13 

Miiller,  August,  Hebr'dische  Schidgrammatik,  Halle  a/S,  1878;  Eng., 
Outlines  of  Hebrew  Syntax,  Robertson,  Glasgow,  1887. 

Olshausen,  Justus,  Lehrbuch  der  Hebrdischen  Sprache,  Braunschweig, 
1861. 

Peters,  J.  P.,  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1SS5. 

Piepenbring,  Ch.,  Theologie  de  I'Ancien  Testament,  Paris,  1886;  Eng., 
Theology  of  the  Old  Testament,  H.  G.  Mitchell,  Boston,  1893. 

Porter,  F.  C.,  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1895. 

Ragozin,  Z.  A.,  The  Story  of  Assyria,  New  York,  1893. 

Rawlinson,  George,  The  Story  of  Ancient  Egypt,  New  York,  1894. 
The  Story  of  Phoenicia,  New  York,  1893. 

Riehm,  E.  C.  A.,  Handivorterbuch  des  Biblischen  Alterlu?ns,  Bielefeld  and 
Leipzig,  1SS4. 

Robinson,  Edward,  Biblical  Researches  in  Palestine,2  Boston,  i860. 

Roorda,  T.,  Orientalia,  Amsterdam,  1840. 

Scheid,  E.,  Specimina  Philologico-critica,  Harderwijk,  1779-80. 

Schrader,  E.,  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,  Giessen,  1883; 
Eng.,  The  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  and  the  Old  Testament,  White- 
house,  London,  1885  and  1SS8. 

Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  Berlin,  1889-96. 
Keilinschriften  und  Geschichtsforschung,  Giessen,  1 878. 

Schroder,  N.  \V.,  Commentarius  de  Vestitu  Mulierum  Hebraearum, 
Leyden,  1745. 

Seeker,  Thomas  (d.  1768),  Manuscript  notes,  quoted  by  Lowth. 

Siegfried  and  Stade,  Hebrliisches  Wbrterbuch  zum  Alten  Testament,  Leip- 
zig, 1892-93. 

Smith,  George,  The  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  ed.  Sayce,  New  York, 
1880. 

Smith,  G.  A.,  The  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,  London  and 
New  York,  1894. 

Smith,  William,  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  ed.  Hackett,  Boston,  1881. 

Smith,  W.  R.,  f  our nal  of  Philology,  1884. 

The  Prophets  of  Israel,  Edinburgh  and  New  York,  1882. 

Stade,  Bernhard,  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel,  Berlin,  1887-88. 

Studer,  G.  L.,  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Protestantische  Theologie,  1877-81. 

Thenius,  Otto,  Theologische  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1S46. 

Thomson,  W.  M.,  The  Land  and  the  Book,  New  York,  1886. 

Tiele,  C.  P.,  Babylonisch-Assyrische  Geschichte,  Gotha,  18S6-88. 

Toy,  C.  H.,  Quotations  in  the  New  Testament,  Boston,  1884. 

Tristram,  H.  B.,  The  Natural  History  of  the  Bible,z  London,  1873. 


14  BOOK'S  AND  AUTHORS  CITED. 

Usher,  James,  Annates  Veteris  el  Novi  Testamenti,  London,  1650-54, 
Valentiner,  Fr.,  Zeitschrifl  der  Deutschen  Morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft, 

1858. 
Van  Lennep,  II.  J.,  Bible  Lands,  New  York,  1875. 
van  de  Velde,  C.  W.  M.,  Syria  and  Palestine,  Edinburgh  and  London, 

1S54. 
Weir,  I).  II.  (d.  1S76),  Manuscript  notes,  quoted  by  Cheyne. 
Wellhausen,  Julius,  Skizzen  und  Vorarbeiten,  V.,  Berlin,  1892. 
Wickes,  William,  Hebrew  Prose  Accents,  Oxford,  1887. 
Wilson,  Warren,  etc.,  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,  London,  1871. 
Winckler,  Hugo,  Altorientalische  Forschungen,  Leipzig,  1S93. 
Alltestanientliche  Untersnchungen,  Leipzig,  1892. 
Untersuchungen  zur  Altorientalischen  Geschichle,  Leipzig,  1S89. 
Zeitschrifl  fUr  die  Alttestamentliche  Wissenschaft. 
Zeitschrifl  der  Deutschen  Morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft. 
Zeitschrifl  des  Deutschen  Palastina-  Vereins. 


INTRODUCTORY   STUDIES. 


:>X*c 


I. 

ISAIAH  THE   PROPHET. 

The  earlier  Hebrew  prophets  were  born  and  bred  in 
comparative  seclusion.  Samuel  was  a  native  of  Ramah 
in  Benjamin.  Elijah  came  from  an  obscure  place  in 
Gilead ;  Elisha,  from  one  equally  obscure  in  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan.  The  home  of  Jonah  was  at  Gath-hepher 
in  Zebulon  ;  that  of  Amos,  at  Tekoa,  on  the  edge  of  the 
desert  of  Judah.  Moses,  if,  as  is  fitting,  he  be  reckoned 
the  first  and  greatest  of  them  all,  was  really  no  excep- 
tion ;  for,  although  he  was  reared  at  the  court  of  Pha- 
raoh, he  went  to  his  great  task  of  delivering  the  Hebrews 
from  bondage  only  after  forty  years  in  the  solitudes  of 
the  Sinaitic  peninsula.  The  last-mentioned  fact  suggests 
that  the  early  experience  of  Moses'  successors  also  was 
divinely  directed.  At  least,  one  can  see  how  their  seclu- 
sion would  prepare  them  for  the  work  to  which  they 
were  destined.  It  would  naturally  prevent  them  from 
becoming  involved  in  the  sinful  ideas  and  practices 
in  which  their  people  were  prone  to  offend.  It  would 
also  afford  them  leisure  and  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted, by  such  means  as  were  provided,  with  the  will 
and  ways  of  Jehovah.     In  view  of  all  this,  —  the  history 

'5 


16  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

of  the  previous  prophets  and  its  apparent  adaptation  to 
the  accomplishment  of  the  divine  purpose,  —  it  seems 
strange  to  find  that,  so  far  as  is  known,  Isaiah  had  no 
such  experience.  He  was  probably  born,  as  well  as 
reared,  at  Jerusalem.  At  any  rate,  when  he  entered 
upon  his  mission,  he  was  living  in  the  city  (vii.  3),  and 
from  that  time,  so  long  as  one  can  trace  his  activity,  he 
remained  among  its  inhabitants  (xx.  2  f.,  xxxvii.  2,  etc.). 
This  prophet  is  further  distinguished  from  his  prede- 
cessors by  his  standing  in  the  society  of  the  day.  Tra- 
dition says  that  he  was  "  of  the  house  and  lineage  of 
David,"  being  a  cousin  of  Uzziah  ;  and  that  his  daughter 
became  the  wife  of  Uzziah's  great-grandson,  Manasseh. 
These  statements  are  probably  products  of  the  rabbinical 
imagination,  but  there  are  indications  that  he  was  well 
connected.  One  proof  of  it  is  the  fact  that  he  was 
evidently,  for  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  carefully  edu- 
cated. He  was  acquainted  with  the  literature  of  his 
people,  especially  the  works  of  Amos  and  Hosea,  on 
which,  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  he  had  formed  a  style 
at  once  vigorous  and  attractive.*  A  second  fact  points 
in  the  same  direction ;  viz.  that,  from  the  first,  he  seems 
to  have  been  treated  with  peculiar  consideration  by  all 
classes  of  his  people.  He  approached  Ahaz  unhindered 
in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  city ;  and,  although  the  king 
declined  to  take  his  advice,  he  accepted  the  rebuke  that 
followed  in  silence,  and  let  the  prophet  go  unpunished 
(vii.  13  ff.).  Perhaps  it  was  fear  of  his  personal  disap- 
probation that  led  those  in  charge  of  affairs,  on  this  and 
other  occasions,  to  conceal  from  him  the  policy  that  they 
were  pursuing  (xxx.  1  ff.,  xxxix.  1  ff.);  but  it  is  more 
*  On  the  relation  of  Isaiah  to  Amos  see  the  author's  Amos,  203  f. 


ISAIAH   THE  TROTH ET.  17 

probable  that  he  early  acquired  such  influence  at  Jerusa- 
lem, that,  in  court  circles,  he  was  not  unjustly  regarded 
as  the  leader  of  a  party  which  might  prove  powerful 
(viii.  i6ff.). 

The  mention  of  the  so-called  prophetical  party  sug- 
gests another  peculiarity  in  the  relation  of  Isaiah  to  his 
times.  The  work  of  most  of  the  prophets  who  had 
gone  before  him  had  been  more  or  less  spasmodic. 
When  there  was  a  crisis  in  affairs  one  of  them  had 
suddenly  appeared,  taken  a  hand  in  the  settlement  of  it, 
and  then  as  suddenly  retired  to  his  previous  pursuits. 
Isaiah,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  date  of  his  call  to 
the  prophetic  office  until  the  end  of  his  life,  a  period  of 
at  least  thirty-five,  and  perhaps  fifty,  years,  was  con- 
stantly in  the  public  eye.  He  himself  recognized  this 
as  his  divinely  appointed  position ;  for  he  said  (viii.  18) 
that  not  only  he,  but  each  of  the  children  whom  Jehovah 
had  given  him,  was  intended  to  be  a  sign  and  a  token  in 
Israel.  Sometimes  he  went  further  than  simply  to  stand 
for  an  idea,  or  declare  the  word  of  Jehovah  as  he  had 
opportunity,  and  resorted  to  more  sensational  methods ; 
as,  e.g.,  when  he  went  naked  and  barefoot  in  illustration 
of  the  fate  awaiting  Egypt  and  Ethiopia  (xx.  2),  thus, 
doubtless,  while  he  impressed  some,  exposing  himself  to 
the  ridicule  of  the  majority  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

Isaiah  himself  explains  why  he  was  so  long  and  so 
continuously  active.  In  the  wonderful  chapter  (vi.)  in 
which  he  describes  his  call,  he  represents  himself  as 
appalled  by  the  result  that  he  was  instructed  to  expect 
from  his  mission,  and  as  exclaiming  in  his  despondency, 
"  O  Lord,  how  long  ?  "  The  answer  was,  that  he  was 
to   prosecute   his   calling   until   the  country  had   been 


IS  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

reduced  almost  to  an  uninhabited  desert,  in  preparation 
for  the  new  nation  into  which  the  remnant  preserved 
would  finally  develop  (nff.).  Here,  as  the  prophet, 
if  not  at  once,  very  soon,  realized,  was  a  task  to  be 
accomplished,  not  by  a  single  effort,  however  enthusias- 
tic, but  only  by  years  of  ceaseless  devotion.  He  was 
not  deceived  ;  for,  although  he  labored  in  season  and 
out  of  season  to  fulfil  his  mission,  his  life  was  nearing 
its  close,  when,  at  length,  he  saw  his  prayers  answered, 
and  his  aspirations  for  his  people  to  some  extent 
realized. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  he  long  outlived  the  vindica- 
tion of  his  claim  to  inspiration, — to  see  Hezekiah  suc- 
ceeded by  Manasseh,  and  the  fear  of  Jehovah  almost 
smothered  by  authorized  idolatry.  The  latter  king, 
indeed,  is  said  to  have  sawn  him  asunder  because  he 
opposed  the  reaction  (Asc.  of  Isaiah  i-v.).  Heb.  xi.  37 
has  been  supposed  to  refer  to  this  bloody  deed  ;  and 
the  people  of  Silwan  to-day  profess  to  know  the  very 
spot,  at  an  old  mulberry  tree  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Kidron,  just  below  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  where  it  was 
perpetrated.  Still,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  any  founda- 
tion for  the  story  ;  for,  if  any  such  fate  had  befallen 
the  prophet,  the  author  of  the  books  of  Kings,  who 
surely  cannot  be  accused  of  sparing  Manasseh,  would 
have  mentioned  it  in  his  indictment  (2  Kgs.  xxi.  I  ff.  ; 
2  Chr.  xxxiii.  1  ff.),  and  there  would  be  something  from 
that  period  in  the  collected  works  of  Isaiah.  It  is  more 
reasonable,  as  well  as  more  agreeable,  to  believe,  that 
God  took  him  while  he  was  enjoying  the  too  brief 
recognition  by  which  his  services  in  the  Assyrian  crisis 
were  rewarded. 


ISAIAH  THE  PROPHET.  19 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  analyze  such  a  character  as  that 
of  Isaiah.  One  is  awed  by  its  grandeur,  and  baffled  by 
its  symmetry.  Still,  the  question  will  arise,  whether  he 
had  not  peculiar  qualities  which  made  his  magnificent 
career  possible.    The  task  must,  therefore,  be  attempted. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  story  of  Isaiah's  life  with- 
out being  impressed  with  his  remarkable  cquani)irity,  — 
that  balance  of  mind  which  prevents  or  minimizes  the 
effect  of  sudden  changes  of  fortune,  and  thus  preserves 
to  one  the  use  of  all  one's  faculties,  when  a  perfect 
command  of  them  is  most  important.  There  are  several 
striking  instances  of  the  display  of  this  quality  re- 
corded of  Isaiah.  If  the  record  were  complete,  there 
would  doubtless  be  many  more. 

One  of  these  was  in  connection  with  the  attack  upon 
Judah  by  the  allied  kings  of  Syria  and  Israel.  These 
two  monarchs,  it  is  related,  for  some  reason  resolved  to 
remove  Ahaz,  and  put  a  creature  of  their  own  upon  the 
throne  of  David.  In  fact  they  prepared  an  expedition 
for  this  purpose,  and  made  some  progress  toward  its 
fulfilment.  The  Jews,  including  their  young  king,  were 
thrown  into  such  consternation  that  they  imagined  the 
enemy  already  approaching,  and  at  once  began  to  pre- 
pare for  the  expected  assault  upon  their  capital.  At 
this  crisis  Isaiah  appears  on  the  scene  (vii.  3  ff.).  Ahaz 
is  outside  the  city,  making  provision  against  a  disturb- 
ance of  the  water  supply.  The  prophet  approaches. 
He  seems  in  no  haste ;  but  comes,  leisurely  leading  a 
tottering  child,  his  first-born,  Shear-yashub.  His  first 
words  are  in  harmony  with  his  bearing.  He  rebukes 
the  bustling  monarch  for  his  excitement,  and  entreats 
him  to  be  quiet.     One  can   imagine   Ahaz,    in    reply, 


20  INTR  OP  I TCTOR  V  STL  'DIES. 

describing  the  danger  and  insisting  upon  the  necessity 
of  the  utmost  despatch,  lest  he  should  be  surprised  and 
overpowered  by  the  hostile  kings.  "These  two  smok- 
Stumps  of  firebrands!"  says  Isaiah,  in  derision; 
and  proceeds  to  assure  the  king  that  his  fears  are 
groundless.  There  is  more  of  the  story,  but  the  rest 
only  confirms  the  impression  made  by  the  beginning, 
that,  in  the  Syrian  crisis,  the  prophet  was  the  coolest, 
if  not  the  only  imperturbed,  person  in  Jerusalem. 

At  this  time  Isaiah  was  a  young  man.  Many  years 
later  his  equanimity  was  even  more  severely  tested.  It 
was  when  the  great  king  Sennacherib  had  overrun  Judah 
and  pushed  his  conquests  to  the  very  gates  of  Jerusalem 
(2  Kgs.  xviii.  1 3  ff . ;  Isa.  xxxvL  iff.).  Hezekiah,  who 
had  now  succeeded  Ahaz,  was  naturally  greatly  fright- 
ened. Not  so  Isaiah;  as  the  story  makes  abundantly  evi- 
dent. His  perfect  composure  is  implied  in  the  fact,  that 
he  did  not  take  any  notice  of  the  threats  of  Sennacherib 
until  Hezekiah  had  called  his  attention  to  them.  Then, 
however,  not  content  with  soothing  the  fears  of  the  lat- 
ter, he  treated  the  threats  of  the  former  with  scorn  and 
derision.  Could  there  be  a  more  perfect  picture  of  self- 
possession  than  this  old  Jew,  sitting  quietly  in  his  house 
and  defying  the  greatest  earthly  monarch  in  existence  ? 

ft  may  be  objected  that  the  conduct  of  Isaiah  under 
the  circumstances  described  can  be  explained  as  an 
effect  of  inspiration,  without  supposing  him  peculiarly 
endowed  by  nature  ;  but  the  point  is  not  well  taken  : 
for,  if  it  were,  the  prophets  would  all  have  shown  them- 
selves equally  self-possessed  under  such  circumstances  ; 
which,  as  every  one  who  has  carefully  read  their  writ- 
ings knows,  is  contradicted  by  their  own  utterances. 


ISAIAH   THE   PROPHET.  21 

A  second  characteristic  of  Isaiah  is  sagacity.  A  little 
reflection  will  convince  one  that  he  was  highly  endowed 
in  this  respect. 

The  office  of  the  prophet  was  to  stand  between  Jeho- 
vah and  his  people,  and  interpret  the  will  of  the  one  to 
the  other.  It  might,  therefore,  be  either  positive  or 
negative ;  but  most  of  the  prophets  a  record  of  whose 
words  is  preserved,  seem  to  have  emphasized  the  latter, 
rather  than  the  former,  part  of  their  duty.  Nathan  will 
serve  as  an  example  among  the  earlier  ones.  There 
are  three  great  occasions  on  which  he  appears  in  bibli- 
cal history :  when  David  proposed  to  build  a  temple  to 
Jehovah  (2  Sam.  vii.  4  ff.) ;  when  he  appropriated 
Uriah's  wife  (2  Sam.  xii.  1  ff.);  and  finally,  when 
Adonijah  proclaimed  himself  his  successor  (1  Kgs.  i. 
11  ff.);  —  and  every  time  with  a  veto.  In  other  words, 
he  is  represented  simply  as  a  censor  in  morals  as  well 
as  in  politics.  The  prophets  generally  confined  them- 
selves to  this  role ;  usually  appearing  when  things  were 
going  wrong,  to  denounce  the  sins  and  blunders  of  the 
people  or  their  rulers,  and  then  retiring  until  another 
protest  was  necessary.  Thus  the  appearance  of  a 
prophet  early  began  to  be  regarded  as  an  evil  omen. 
Did  not  the  elders  of  Bethlehem  tremble  when  Samuel 
visited  their  little  city  (1  Sam.  xvi.  4)?  It  was  doubt- 
less sometimes  charged,  that  they  delighted  in  finding 
fault  and  foretelling  misfortune.  The  author  of  the 
book  of  Jonah  seems  to  have  intended  to  represent  that 
prophet  as  harboring  some  such  disposition  (iv.).  Ahab 
went  farther,  and  accused  Micaiah  of  wresting  the  word 
of  Jehovah  to  his  disadvantage  (1  Kgs.  xxii.  8,  18). 

In  his  earlier  prophecies,  Isaiah,  following  the  exam- 


22  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

pie  of  his  predecessors,  especially  Amos,  attacked  the 
evils  of  his  time,  seemingly  without  giving  much  thought 
to  practical  suggestions  for  the  benefit  of  his  people. 
It  was  not  long,  however,  before  his  individuality,  stimu- 
lated by  the  divine  Spirit,  asserted  itself,  and  he  began 
to  supplement  his  denunciations  with  positive  and  con- 
structive efforts.  When  he  began  his  ministry  the  most 
urgent  need  of  the  nation  was  protection  against  its 
hostile  neighbors.  He  counselled  a  defensive  neutrality 
(vii.  4 ;  xxx.  1 5) ;  and,  when  one  considers  the  position 
of  Judah,  just  off  the  highway  between  Egypt  and 
Assyria,  one  cannot  but  feel,  that,  had  his  advice  been 
followed,  the  subjugation  of  his  people  would  have  been 
postponed,  if  not  entirely  prevented.  He  also  labored 
to  remove  the  internal  evils  which  he  condemned,  and 
he  seems  to  have  succeeded  in  some  measure ;  for  there 
is  little  doubt  that  he  was  the  means  of  Shebna's  down- 
fall (xxii.  15  ff.),  and  that  the  reforms  in  religion  under 
Hezekiah  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  4ff.)  were  due  to  his  influence 
(Cornill,  PI,  67  f.).  Finally,  as  has  already  been  inti- 
mated, he  made  provision  for  the  future  of  the  ideas 
that  he  taught  by  planting  them  in  the  hearts  of  a 
chosen  company  of  disciples.  To  their  faithfulness  the 
nation  owed  its  deliverance  from  Sennacherib  and  its 
more  thorough  reformation  under  Josiah.  In  fact,  it  is 
claimed,  and  with  reason,  that,  in  this  little  band  of 
believers,  the  Church  of  God,  as  a  distinct  institution, 
had  its  origin  (WRSmith,  PI,  274  f.).  These  considera- 
tions seem  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  Isaiah  was  en- 
dowed above  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  other  prophets,  with 
the  practical  ability  "  to  guard  against  the  designs  of 
others,    and   to   turn    everything   to   the   best  possible 


ISAIAH   THE  PROPHET.  23 

advantage,'"  or,  in  other  words,  to  make  everything 
further  the  cause  of  God  in  Israel. 

The  most  prominent  trait  of  Isaiah's  character  re- 
mains to  be  noticed.  It  is  his  hopefulness.  By  this  is 
meant  more  than  the  Jews  intended  when  they  said  that 
his  book,  and  every  part  of  it,  was  full  of  hope  and  com- 
fort (Flirst,  KAT,  25  f.).  It  means,  not  only  that  his 
message  to  his  people  was  in  the  main  hopeful,  but  that 
he  was  by  nature  fitted  to  be  the  bearer  of  such  a  mes- 
sage.    This  is  apparent  from  his  treatment  of  it. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  significant  touch  in  the 
account  of  his  call.  When  Jehovah  asked,  "Whom 
shall  I  send  ?  "  he  replied  without  hesitation,  "  Here  am 
I,  send  me;"  but  when  he  learned  what  the  nature  of 
his  message  was  to  be,  he  exclaimed,  "  O  Lord,  how 
long?"  as  if,  although  he  dared  not  refuse  to  deliver 
it,  he  shrank  from  acting  the  part  of  a  prophet  of  evil 
(vi.  8ff.). 

There  is  a  second  indication  pointing  in  the  same 
direction.  It  is  found  in  the  name  given  to  his  (pre- 
sumably) eldest  son.  This  boy  must  have  been  born 
not  far  from  the  time  of  his  father's  call.  Whether  his 
birth  occurred  before  or  after  that  event,  it  is  impossible 
to  determine.  In  either  case  the  name  given  him  is 
significant;  especially  so  if,  as  is  the  more  probable 
opinion,  it  was  bestowed  after  the  prophet  had  received 
his  commission.  Recall  the  situation.  He  had  been 
charged  with  a  message  whose  effect,  he  was  assured, 
would  be  to  confirm  his  people  in  their  sins  and  expose 
them  to  the  consuming  fury  of  their  God.  It  is  doubtful 
if  there  was  anything  in  his  original  instructions  which 
gave  him  reason  to  expect  that  any  of  them  would  be 


24  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

spared.  He  would  not,  however,  abandon  hope ;  but 
sought,  and  finally  found,  ground  for  believing  that 
mercy  would  in  the  end  triumph  over  justice,  and  pub- 
lished his  faith  to  the  world  in  the  name  that  he  gave  to 
his  first-born,  Shear-yashub,  —  A-remnant-shall-return. 

Years  passed,  and,  although  there  were  times  when 
the  fate  of  Israel  seemed  sealed,  the  prophet  never 
doubted  the  outcome.  In  fact,  his  faith  appears  to 
have  fed  upon  the  difficulties  which  it  encountered ; 
and  when  he  was  vouchsafed  a  glimpse  of  God's  gra- 
cious purpose,  he  portrayed  it  in  such  glorious  colors 
that  the  world  has  not  yet  ceased  to  wonder.  These 
inspiring  pictures  of  the  future,  in  which  Israel,  re- 
stored, is  to  be  governed  by  a  second  and  diviner 
David,  and  Paradise  is  to  be  regained,  also  betray  a  nat- 
ure in  which  hopefulness  is  the  dominant  characteristic. 

Such  was  the  man  Isaiah.  If,  however,  these  were 
his  characteristics,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  he  should  have 
been  chosen  the  ambassador  of  Jehovah  to  his  genera- 
tion ;  —  easy,  too,  to  understand  how  he  became  the 
tower  of  strength  that  he  was  to  his  own,  and  that  he 
has  since  been  to  each  succeeding  generation,  in  its 
distresses. 

Such  are  the  personal ;  what  are  the  literary  charac- 
teristics of  the  prophet  ? 

Here,  again,  at  first  sight,  there  seems  room  for  little 
but  admiration.  Most  writers  who  have  referred  to 
the  style  of  Isaiah,  therefore,  have  been  content  with 
pronouncing  him  the  greatest  master  of  the  Hebrew 
tongue.*     This  is  true;  still,  it  can  hardly  be  said  of 

*  For  an  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  subject  has  generally  been 
treated  see  Ewald,  PAB,  I.  278  ft". 


isaiaii  the  rRoniET.  25 

his  works,  that,  from  every  standpoint  from  which  such 
productions  can  be  viewed,  they  are  unsurpassed ;  for 
there  certainly  are  others  in  the  Old  Testament,  which, 
at  least  in  respect  to  form,  come  nearer  to  the  ideal ;  so 
that  it  would  be  more  nearly  correct  to  say  of  him,  that 
in  the  essentials  of  literary  excellence  he  has  no  peer 
among  Hebrew  writers.  Moreover,  this  can  be  true 
without  implying  that,  in  all  these  essentials,  his  excel- 
lence is  equally  conspicuous.  It  is,  therefore,  after  all, 
not  presumptuous  to  inquire,  if  his  style  has  prominent 
peculiarities,  and,  if  so,  which  are  the  most  prominent. 

One  who  reads  the  undoubtedly  genuine  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  with  an  eye  to  their  literary  character,  is  first, 
perhaps,  struck  with  their  conciseness.  He  will  notice, 
that  they  are  not  a  single  homogeneous  production,  but 
a  series  of  addresses  on  various  occasions,  complete  in 
themselves,  the  longest  of  which  could  be  delivered  in 
less  than  ten  minutes.  He  will  next  observe  the  com- 
pleteness, in  spite  of  the  limits  imposed,  with  which  the 
themes  discussed  are  treated.  The  first  chapter,  e.g.,  is 
a  marvel  of  condensation.  It  is  a  complete  manual  of 
religion ;  setting  forth  the  relation  of  God  to  his  people, 
the  duties  growing  out  of  that  relation,  the  errors  to  be 
avoided,  and  the  results  of  obedience  and  disobedience 
to  the  divine  will;  —  and  this,  not  in  the  dry,  abstract 
terms  of  a  theological  system,  but  in  concrete  pictures 
which  the  simplest  soul  can  understand  and  appreciate. 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  Isaiah  should  have  adopted  this 
style,  at  least  for  his  written  utterances.  The  history 
of  Palestine  during  his  life  was  a  series  of  crises.  He 
therefore  had  little  leisure,  when  moved  to  speak  or 
write,  to  prepare  formal  discourses  ;  and  the  people,  less 


26  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

inclination  to  heed  such  productions.  A  short,  pithy 
speech,  or  a  tract  of  similar  character,  spoken  or  posted 
in  the  gate  or  at  the  sanctuary,  was  much  more  attrac- 
tive and  efficacious.     He  adapted  himself  to  the  times. 

A  little  study  discloses  also  how  he  contrived  to  say 
so  much  in  so  few  words.  In  the  first  place,  his  writ- 
ings abound  in  epigrammatic  sentences.  There  are 
scores  of  them.  In  fact,  there  is  no  other  Hebrew 
author  who  furnishes  the  reader  with  so  many  quotable 
savings.  Good  specimens  are  found  in  i.  13,  iii.  12,  v.  22, 
and  viii.  19.  Things  of  this  sort  are  remembered,  and 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth.  One  can  imagine  the 
people  of  Jerusalem  stopping  one  another  on  the  street, 
to  tell  and  hear  the  latest  from  the  prophet.  This,  of 
course,  was  precisely  what  he  desired  and  intended. 
He  therefore  often  put  these  sayings  into  the  forms 
most  agreeable  to  those  whom  he  wished  to  reach. 
The  oriental  delights  in  paronomasia.  Isaiah  now  and 
then  played  upon  words ;  with  what  success  a  few 
examples,  the  force  of  which  is  lost  in  the  English  ver- 
sion, will  illustrate.  To  Ahaz,  when  the  king  was  losing 
his  faith  in  Jehovah,  he  said  what  might  be  rendered, 
"Confide  not,  abide  not"(vii.  9),  and  furnished  his  dis- 
ciples with  a  watchword.  Of  the  rulers  he  said,  "  He 
looked  for  redress,  and  lo  distress  ;  for  restraint,  and  lo 
complaint"  (v.  7):  and  probably  the  persons  at  whom 
the  shaft  was  aimed  never  forgave  him. 

A  still  more  interesting  class  of  passages  are  such  as 
i.  31,  v.  18,  and  xxviii.  20.  They  owe  their  attractive- 
ness to  the  metaphors  which  they  contain.  There  are 
many  such  passages.  Indeed,  any  one  who  will  take 
the   trouble   to   make   the   comparison   will   find    that, 


ISAIAH   THE  PROPHET.  27 

although  he  uses  both,  Isaiah  prefers  the  metaphor  to 
the  simile.  But,  if  this  is  the  case,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  cultivated  conciseness. 

The  style  of  Isaiah  is  remarkable  also  for  its  vivid- 
ness, i.e.  the  distinctness,  in  spite  of  the  conciseness, 
with  which  the  ideas  to  be  conveyed  are  expressed. 
This  effect  is  produced  partly  by  the  use  of  certain 
rhetorical  figures.  Among  them  is  interrogation.  In 
some  cases,  e.g.,  v.  4,  x.  8  f.,  and  xxviii.  9,  the  answer  is 
so  evident  that  the  reader  is  left  to  supply  it.  In  others 
the  question  is  simply  an  introduction  to  the  declara- 
tion which  the  prophet  wishes  to  make.  So,  e.g.,  x.  3, 
xiv.  32,  and  xxiii.  7  ff.  In  his  account  of  his  call  he 
introduces  the  dialogue  (vi.  8  ff. ).  It  is  clear  that  this 
figure  is  calculated  to  stimulate  attention,  and,  if  not 
too  often  employed,  to  emphasize  the  thought  ex- 
pressed. Isaiah  uses  it  freely,  but  not,  like  Jeremiah, 
so  frequently  as  to  weaken  its  effect  upon  his  style. 

The  same  effect  is  produced  by  antithesis.  This  is 
a  characteristic  feature  of  Isaiah's  writings.  Examples 
occur  on  every  page.  A  good  one  is  found  in  i.  18  ff., 
where  sin  and  purity,  with  their  causes  and  conse- 
quences, are  contrasted.  See  also  iii.  24  and  viii.  6  f . ; 
in  the  latter  of  which,  two  fine  metaphors  are  con- 
trasted. These  are  but  specimens :  there  are  many 
others  equally  striking.  Moreover,  the  tendency  to 
heighten  the  effect  of  an  idea  by  contrasting  it  with 
its  opposite,  appears,  not  only  in  individual  statements, 
but  in  larger  sections  of  the  prophet's  works.  The 
vividness  of  i.  10-17  and  xxii.  16-19,  *•«£*•>  is  largely 
due  to  the  skilful  application  by  their  author  of  the 
principle  of  contrast. 


28  IXTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

Conciseness  and  vividness  are  virtues  in  any  writer, 
but  they  are  doubly  commendable  when  they  are  com- 
bined with  richness  of  diction.  This  last,  also,  is  one 
of  Isaiah's  characteristics.  He  surpasses  all  other 
Hebrew  authors  in  the  variety  and  abundance  of  the 
literary  material  at  his  command. 

The  first  item  to  be  mentioned  in  an  inventory  of 
his  resources  is  his  vocabulary.  One  gets  an  impres- 
sion that  it  must  be  large  and  varied  from  the  number 
of  words  used  by  him  but  once,  and  never  by  any  other 
writer.  The  proportion  of  such  words  in  his  writings 
is  larger  than  in  any  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament, 
except  the  short  books  Habakkuk  and  Canticles.  This 
impression  is  confirmed  by  further  investigation ;  for  it 
will  be  found,  that,  in  the  passages  whose  genuineness 
is  generally  admitted,  he  uses  about  fifty-five  per  cent 
more  words  than  are  found,  e.g.,  in  the  same  number 
of  verses  in  the  latter  part  of  the  book  called  by  his 
name.*  Finally,  it  should  be  observed  that  he  does 
not  affect  archaic  words  or  forms,  but  evidently  puts 
his  crowding  thoughts  into  the  language  of  the  life 
about  him. 

The  richness  of  Isaiah's  style  appears  also  in  the 
number,  variety,  and  elegance  of  the  literary  ornaments 
that  he  employs.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  a  rhetorical 
figure  that  is  not  illustrated  in  his  writings,  and  of  some 
there  are  scores  of  examples.  The  use  that  he  makes 
of  paronomasia  and  interrogation  has  already  been 
noticed.  Related  to  the  former  is  alliteration.  It 
occurs  with  some  frequency,   but   there  is   never  any 

*  The  above  calculation  is  based  on  the  analysis  of  Duhm,  according  to 
whom  the  number  of  genuine  verses  is  293. 


ISAIAH   THE  PROPHET.  29 

apparent  effort  to  produce  such  combinations.  For 
good  examples  see  xvii.   10  and  12,  xxi.  16,  and  xxii.  5. 

In  the  fourth  of  these  passages,  perhaps,  a  climax  is 
intended.  This  is  certainly  the  case  in  ii.  7  f.,  which 
is  also  one  of  several  places  where  Isaiah  indulges  in 
hyperbole. 

These  are  the  most  important  figures  of  speech,  so 
called,  used  by  the  prophet.  Of  the  figures  of  thought, 
the  metaphor  has  already  been  mentioned  as  a  favorite 
with  him,  He  does  not,  however,  neglect  the  fuller 
simile.  In  fact,  there  is  no  other  Hebrew  writer  who 
uses  it  more  frequently  or  effectively.  Moreover,  in 
his  use  of  it,  he  displays  a  remarkable  breadth  of 
knowledge  and  experience.  Of  course,  being  a  native 
of  Jerusalem,  he  shows  perfect  familiarity  with  urban 
life  in  his  figures;  e.g.,  in  v.  25  and  xxx.  13  and  29; 
but,  like  other  healthy  and  vigorous  thinkers,  he  seems 
to  have  found  his  best  illustrations  in  nature  and  the 
life  of  the  country.  Hence  his  prophecies  abound  in 
glimpses  of  natural  phenomena,  like  those  in  vii.  2, 
ix.  17/18,  and  xxviii.  2 ;  or  of  the  simple  pursuits  and 
interests  of  his  rural  countrymen,  like  those  in  i.  30, 
xvii.  5  f.,  and  xxxi.  4.  Add  to  these  the  similes  drawn 
from  history,  such  as  are  found  in  i.  9  and  xvii.  9,  and 
the  result  is  a  collection  of  examples,  which,  for  number 
and  excellence,  it  would  be  difficult  to  match  in  anv 
literature.  The  remaining  figures  of  thought  are  al- 
most all  used  with  more  or  less  frequency  by  Isaiah ; 
but  none  of  them  deserves  especial  mention  except  the 
parable,  of  which  there  are  two  examples,  —  one  in 
v.  1  ff.,  and  the  other  in  xxviii.  23  ff.  The  former  is 
interesting,  not  only  for  its  beauty  and  fitness,  but  also 


30  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

because  there  are  several  imitations  of  it  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  two  in  the  New  (xxvii.  2  ff. ;  Jer.  xii. 
10  f. ;   Ps.  lxxx.  9  ff.  ;   Matt.  xx.  I  ff. ;  xxi.  33  ff.). 

The  richness  of  Isaiah's  style  makes  his  prophecies 
a  constant  source  of  literary  as  well  as  religious  enjoy- 
ment. To  be  sure,  there  are  places  where  one  must 
confess  to  finding  an  excess  of  it ;  e.g.,  in  the  mixed 
metaphors  of  xiv.  29  and  xxviii.  1 5,  the  confused  similes 
of  v.  24  and  xvii.  13,  and  the  perplexing  combination  of 
metaphors  and  similes  in  xxx.  27  f. :  but,  as  the  prophet 
never  dwells  on  these  figures,  he  so  soon  recovers  him- 
self that  the  usual  clearness  of  his  language  is  only 
slightly  disturbed. 

It  is  clear,  that  Isaiah  lived  in  an  ideal  world  and 
spoke  the  language  of  the  imagination ;  in  other  words, 
that  he  was  a  poet.  But  he  was  an  oriental  poet ;  and 
oriental  poets  allow  themselves  greater  liberty  than  is 
permitted  occidental  singers.  Their  poems,  therefore, 
like  the  products  of  the  looms  of  the  East,  are  apt  to 
be  characterized  by  a  freedom  of  design  and  execution 
that  furnishes  an  almost  endless  succession  of  delight- 
ful surprises.  So  it  is  with  Isaiah's  poetry.  He  seems 
not  to  have  permitted  himself  to  be  trammelled  by  met- 
rical considerations,  but  freely  to  have  lengthened  and 
shortened  his  lines  and  strophes  to  suit  the  flow  of  his 
thought*  The  result,  as  in  the  case  of  the  illustra- 
tion, after  one  has  recovered  from  the  strangeness  of 
this  oriental  freedom,  is  a  continually  recurring  pleasure 
in  the  unexpected  forms  in  which  he  clothes  his  ideas. 

*  Thus,  in  the  song  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  chapter,  there  are 
twenty  lines :  two  with  three  words  each;  six  with  four;  four  with  live; 
six  with  six;   and  two  with  seven.     Compare  FBrown,  JBL,  1890,  I.  92 f. 


THE   TIMES   OE  ISAIAH.  31 

The  importance  of  Isaiah's  position  and  character  as 
elements  of  power  has  already  been  noticed.  It  re- 
mains to  call  attention  to  the  additional  advantage 
which  his  literary  outfit  gave  him.  This  surely  must 
have  been  very  great.  The  sinners  whom  he  rebuked 
cannot  have  received  his  denunciations  as  calmly  as 
they  would  have  listened  to  less  masterful  descriptions 
of  their  corruption  and  its  consequences.  One  can 
even  imagine  the  enemies  and  oppressors  of  his  coun- 
trymen wishing  that  Jehovah  had  a  less  eloquent  rep- 
resentative. On  the  other  hand,  what  a  cordial  to  his 
friends  and  disciples,  when  they  were  ready  to  faint 
under  the  stress  of  misfortune  or  persecution,  it  must 
have  been  to  hear  him  tell  the  things  that  were  in  store 
for  the  remnant  of  the  chosen  people !  Do  not  men 
still  delight  to  clothe  their  hopes  for  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  his  language  ? 

Such  was  Isaiah,  —  a  great  man  and  a  great  poet ; 
and,  as  such,  one  of  the  noblest  instruments  ever 
chosen  of  God  to  declare  his  will,  and  advance  his 
kingdom,  among  men. 


II. 

THE  TIMES  OF  ISAIAH. 

The  title  of  the  book  called  by  the  name  of  Isaiah 
says  that  he  lived  and  prophesied  in  the  reigns  of 
Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah.  The  contents 
of   the   book  show  that   this  statement,  whoever   may 


32  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

have  been  its  author,  is  correct.  Thus,  e.g.,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  ii.  6  ff.  reflects  the  state  of  things 
under  Uzziah  and  Jotham,  and  less,  that  vii.  belongs 
to  the  reign  of  Ahaz,  and  xx.  to  that  of  Hezekiah.  If, 
however,  one  would  thoroughly  understand  these  re- 
markable prophecies,  the  date  of  the  prophet  must 
be  more  exactly  determined,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  wrote  considered. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  the  reign  of  Uzziah 
began,  and  ended,  considerably  later  than  was  formerly 
believed.  Usher  made  him  succeed  his  father  Amasiah  in 
8 10,  and  give  place  to  his  son  Jotham  in  758  b.c.  This, 
however,  cannot  be  correct,  if,  as  is  asserted  (2  Kgs.  xv. 
17),  he  was  a  contemporary  of  Menahem  of  Israel ;  since 
the  latter,  according  to  both  Hebrew  (2  Kgs.  xv.  19)*  and 
Assyrian(Schrader,  KA  T,  223  f.)|  testimony,  paid  tribute 
to  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  who  did  not  come  to  the  throne 
until  745.  Moreover,  the  same  Assyrian  king  seems 
to  have  received  tribute  from  Uzziah  himself  some  time 
after  this  date.  \      Most  modern  authorities,  therefore, 

*  Here,  as  Sclirader  was  the  first  to  discover  (KGF,  422  ff.),  Pul  is  evi- 
dently but  another  name  for  Tiglath-pileser  III.  See  Schrader,  KA  T, 
227 ff.;   Ragozin,  SA,  207 f. 

t  The  annals  of  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  for  the  eighth  year  of  his  reign, 
read,  "The  tribute  of  Kustaspi  of  Commagene,  Resin  of  Damascus,  Mena- 
hem of  Samaria,  Hiram  of  Tyre,"  etc.  See  Schrader.  KA  T,  223  f. ; 
KB,  II.  30  f. 

X  This  statement  is  based  on  two  fragmentary  inscriptions,  in  one  of 
which  tribute  is  said  to  have  been  taken  from  a  king  of  Ia-u-di  and  the 
la-u-da-ai,  the  end  of  whose  name  is  ia-a-u;  and  in  the  other,  from  one 
the  beginning  of  whose  name  is  Az-ri-a.  In  the  latter  the  name  Az-riia- 
a-u  occurs,  also,  as  that  of  one  to  whom  a  part  of  Hamath  had  revolted 
(Schrader,  KB,  II.  24 ff.)«  Schrader  (KA  T,  217  ((.)  identifies  the  Aza- 
riah  of  both  fragments  with  Uzziah,  who  is  so  called  in  2  Kgs.  xv.  1 ;   and 


THE    TIMES   OF  ISAIAH.  33 

put  the  end  of  Uzziah's  reign  as  late  as  740  (Driver, 
Duncker,  Delitzsch,  etc.),  and  some  four  or  five  years 
later  (Kamphausen,  Meyer,  Buhl,  etc.);  and,  if  he 
reigned  fifty-two  years,  his  last  cannot  have  been  much, 
if  any,  earlier  than  735.  The  most  serious  objection  to 
this  date  is,  that,  since  Ahaz  is  known  to  have  been 
on  the  throne  in  734,  there  is  very  little  room  left  for 
Jotham ;  who,  according  to  2  Kgs.  xv.  33,  ruled  sixteen, 
or,  according  to  2  Kgs.  xv.  30,  twenty  years.  But  this 
objection  is  met  by  supposing,  as  there  is  good  reason 
for  doing,  that  this  king,  during  almost  the  entire 
period  of  his  alleged  reign,  was  regent  for  his  unfortu- 
nate father ;  or,  as  2  Kgs.  xv.  5  expresses  it,  "  over  the 
household,  judging  the  people  of  the  land." 

Ahaz  is  said  to  have  come  to  the  throne  at  twenty 
and  to  have  reigned  sixteen  years  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  1).  If, 
therefore,  the  date  of  his  accession  is,  at  the  latest, 
740  b.c,  he  cannot  have  been  succeeded  by  Hezekiah 
before  725.  Here  are  new  difficulties.  In  the  first 
place,  the  first  of  Hezekiah  would  thus  be,  not  the  third 
(2  Kgs.  xviii.  1),  but  the  sixth,  of  Hoshea  of  Israel ;  and 
Samaria  must  have  fallen  in  the  third,  and  not  in  the 
sixth  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  10),  year  of  the  Judean  king. 
Secondly,  this  result  is  contradicted  by  2  Kgs.  xviii.  13, 
where  the  date    of    Sennacherib's    invasion    of   Judah, 

supposes  the  operations  therein  described  to  belong  to  a  date  between 
742  and  740  B.C.  Winckler  (AF,  I.  1  ff.)  has  undertaken  to  show  that 
the  words  la-u-di  and  Ia-tt-da-ai  of  the  first  fragment,  which  have  been 
supposed  to  mean  Judah  and  the  Judean,  are  really  designations  for  a 
region  in  northern  Syria  —  the  "tiT  of  inscriptions  recently  found  at  Sin- 
jirli  —  and  its  ruler;  but  such  a  coincidence  in  the  case  of  two  countries 
and  their  rulers  is  hardly  possible.  See  McCurdy,  HFJII,  I.  413  ff.;  comp. 
Cheyne,  IBI,  4;  Kittel,  HII,  II.  335  f.). 


34  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

which  took  place  in  701,  is  said  to  have  been  the  four- 
teenth of  Hezekiah  ;  i.e.,  if  his  first  was  725,  712,  seven 
years  before  the  Assyrian  monarch  came  to  the  throne. 
The  first  of  these  discrepancies  cannot  be  remedied ; 
the  second  can,  by  lengthening  the  reign  of  Ahaz  from 
sixteen  to  twenty-one  years.  His  last  would  thus  be 
714,  and  the  fourteenth  of  Hezekiah  would  synchronize 
with  the  invasion  in  question. 

There  is  another  reason  for  preferring  the  later  to 
the  earlier  dates  for  the  kings  mentioned.  In  the  sixth 
chapter  Isaiah  says  that  he  saw  the  vision  in  which  he 
was  called  to  the  prophetic  office  in  the  year  of  Uzziah's 
death.  At  that  time,  if  one  may  judge  from  his  lan- 
guage, he  must  have  been  at  least  twenty-five  years  old. 
He  would  thus,  according  to  Usher,  have  been  at  least 
eighty-three  when  Sennacherib  attacked  his  country;  and 
more  than  ninety-eight  when,  according  to  tradition, 
he  was  put  to  death  by  Manasseh.  Now,  while  it  is  not 
impossible  that  he  lived  to  so  great  an  age,  there  is,  as 
has  been  shown,  no  reliable  evidence  to  that  effect ; 
and  his  latest  prophecies  seem  too  virile  to  be  the  utter- 
ances of  a  man  much  above  sixty. 

When  Isaiah  began  his  career,  Judah  was  entering 
upon  the  stormiest  period  of  its  existence.  For  half  a 
century,  under  the  prudent  and  vigorous  administration 
of  Uzziah  and  his  son  Jotham,  it  had  prospered,  and 
at  last,  the  work  of  Jeroboam  II.  being  largely  undone 
by  internal  strife,  outstripped  all  its  neighbors.  The 
industrial  and  commercial  activity  of  its  people  had 
been  rewarded  by  abundant  wealth  ;  and  the  military 
enterprises  of  its  rulers,  by  increased  political  impor- 
tance (ii.  7 ;    2  Chr.  xxvi.  f.).      The  death    of    Uzziah, 


THE    TIMES   OF  ISAIAH.  35 

although  for  years  he  had  not  governed  his  kingdom 
directly,  seems  to  have  demoralized  the  Jews  and 
robbed  them  of  their  prestige  in  western  Asia.  At 
any  rate,  about  this  time  they  found  themselves  assailed 
from  various  quarters,  but  most  seriously  threatened  by 
the  renewed  hostility  of  Syria  and  Israel  (2  Kgs.  xv.  37). 

The  biblical  historian  represents  this  state  of  things 
as  a  direct  infliction  by  Jehovah,  but  the  student  of  the 
events  of  the  period  will  easily  find  secondary  causes 
for  it.  Tiglath-pileser,  upon  his  accession,  gave  his 
first  attention  to  the  recovery  of  Babylonia  and  the 
restoration  of  Assyrian  authority  among  the  tribes  to 
the  east  and  north  of  him.  This  done,  in  742  he  began 
operations  in  the  West.  He  spent  five  years  in  north- 
ern Syria,  three  in  subduing  Arpad,  and  two  more 
in  reconquering  parts  of  Hamath  that  had  revolted. 
His  success  so  impressed  the  neighboring  peoples  that 
their  rulers  hastened  to  make  submission ;  Resin  of 
Damascus  and  Menahem  of  Samaria,  according  to  the 
record  already  quoted,  among  them. 

This  was  in  738  B.C.  Menahem,  who  needed  the 
support  of  the  great  king  (2  Kgs.  xv.  19),  seems  to  have 
remained  loyal  to  Assyria.  So,  also,  Pekahiah  his  son. 
The  latter,  however,  had  reigned  but  two  years,  when 
Pekah,  son  of  Remaliah,  overthrew  and  succeeded  him 
(2  Kgs.  xv.  25).  The  followers  of  Pekah  are  described 
as  Gileadites.  They  were  doubtless  representatives  of 
a  patriotic  party,  whose  object  was  the  liberation  of 
their  country  from  Assyrian  domination.  Pekah  at  once 
proceeded  to  carry  out  their  programme.  He  refused 
to  pay  the  tribute  imposed  upon  his  predecessors,  and 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  Resin,  who  by  this  time 


36  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

had  repented  of  his  submission,  to  maintain  their  inde- 
pendence. Moab,  Ammon,  Edom,  Philistia,  and  Phoe- 
nicia appear  to  have  been  drawn  into  the  agreement. 
Judah,  for  some  reason,  was  not ;  and  this  fact  suffi- 
ciently explains  the  hostility  toward  it  shown  by  the 
Syrians  and  the  Israelites,  and  finally,  according  to  the 
Chronicler  (2  Chr.  xxviii.  17  f.),*  by  the  Edomites  and 
the  Philistines. 

The  Chronicler  represents  the  Jews  as  suffering  very 
severely  in  this  war,  especially  after  the  accession  of 
Ahaz.  The  parallel  passages  in  the  books  of  Kings  and 
Isaiah  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  5  ;  Isa.  vii.  1)  tell  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent story;  but  they  agree  in  testifying  that  Ahaz  was 
so  thoroughly  frightened  that,  in  spite  of  a  protest  by 
Isaiah,  he  appealed  to  Tiglath-pileser  for  protection. 
The  Assyrian  king  did  not  need  the  costly  present  that 
accompanied  this  appeal,  to  induce  him  to  heed  it. 
Having,  doubtless,  already  planned  such  a  campaign, 
he  at  once  set  an  army  in  motion,  and,  by  the  end  of 
734,  had  seriously  crippled  Pekah  and  forced  Hanno  of 
Gaza  to  take  refuge  in  Egypt,  f     At  the  end  of  three 

*  According  to  Klostermann,  2  Kgs.  xvi.  6  should  read,  "  At  the  same 
time  the  king  of  Edom  restored  Elath  to  Edom,"  etc. 

t  The  precise  date  of  Fekah's  overthrow  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  In 
2  Kgs.  xv.  the  invasion  of  Tiglath-pileser  and  the  conspiracy  of  Hoshea 
are  related  in  successive  verses  (29  f.).  The  annals  of  the  Assyrian  king 
also  describe  the  devastation  of  northern  Israel  and  the  change  in  its  rulers 
in  the  same  connection.  In  the  latter  case,  however,  these  two  events  are 
separated  by  the  humiliation  of  Hanno.  Of  his  operations  against  Israel 
the  Assyrian  king  says:  "The  city  Ga-al  .  .  .  [A]-bi-il  .  .  .  above  the 
land  Beth-omri  .  .  .  the  wide,  in  its  entire  extent  to  the  territory  of 
Assyria  I  added.  I  placed  my  officers  as  governors  over  it."  In  the 
second  paragraph  he  says:  "The  land  Ucth-omri  .  .  .  with  their  goods  to 
Assyria  I  transported.     Pekah,  their  king,  I  slew,  and  Hoshea  I  placed  as 


THE    TIMES    OE  I  SALMI.  37 

years  he  had  conquered   Syria  (2    Kgs.  xvL   9)*   and 

compelled  the  remaining  members  of  the  coalition  in 
one  way  or  another  to  acknowledge  his  sovereignty.  \ 

The  death  of  Tiglath-pileser,  which  occurred  in  727 
B.C.,  was  followed  by  another  uprising  in  the  west  of  the 
empire,  in  which  Israel  was  prominent;  but  when  Shal- 
maneser  IV.,  the  successor  of  Tiglath-pileser,  appeared 
on  the  scene,  he  speedily  frightened  Hoshea  into  submis- 
sion (2  Kgs.  xvii.  3).  This,  however,  was  not  the  end 
of  the  matter.  The  next  year  Hoshea,  relying  on  the 
help  of  Shabaka,  who  had  recently  (728)  made  himself 
master  of  Egypt,  %  again  rebelled.  Shalmaneser  promptly 

king  over  them.  Ten  talents  of  gold,  a  thousand  talents  of  silver  (?):... 
I  received,  and  to  Assyria  I  transported  them."  See  Schrader,  KA  T, 
255  ff.;  KB,  II.  3off.  In  another  fragment  (Lay.  66)  he  says:  "On  my 
former  expedition  I  subdued  all  the  cities,  Samaria  excepted."  This  state- 
ment shows  that  Israel  was  twice  invaded,  and  makes  it  probable  that 
Pekah  was  not  displaced  by  Hoshea  much,  if  any,  before  732,  when  the 
war  with  Syria  had  been  brought  to  a  successful  termination.  See 
McCurdy,  IIPM,  I.  372m;  Tiele,  BAG,  233m  Comp.  Winckler,  AW, 
126  m,  who  holds  that  the  expedition  against  Hanno  was  entirely  uncon- 
nected with  the  Syrian  war,  which  did  not  open  until  733  B.C. 

*  The  Assyrian  annals  contained  a  detailed  account  of  the  conquest  of 
Syria;  but  the  remains  of  it  are  so  fragmentary  that  it  is  possible  to  gather 
therefrom  only  that  the  country  was  thoroughly  devastated.  See  Schrader, 
KA  T,  260  ff. 

t  Ahaz,  according  to  2  Kgs.  xvi.  10,  went  to  Damascus  to  meet  Tiglath- 
pileser,  and  thither,  doubtless,  the  other  princes  mentioned  by  the  Assyr- 
ian king  as  submitting  brought  their  tribute.  See  Schrader,  KA  T,  257  f. ; 
KB,  II.  20  f.  Ahaz  appears  in  this  list  as  " Ia-u-ha-zi,n  i.e.,  Jehoahaz, 
"of  Judah." 

J  According  to  2  Kgs.  xvii.  4  the  king  of  Egypt  at  that  time  was  So. 
This  name  is  probably,  as  Schrader  {KAT,  269  f.)  suggests,  to  be  pro- 
nounced Sewe  (KID),  and  the  person  who  bore  it  identified  with  the  Sibu 
(Schrader,  Shab'i)  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions.  Sibu,  however,  is  called 
by  Sargon  the  tartan,  i.e.,  viceroy,  of  Egypt  (Schrader,  KAT,  396 f.;  KB, 


38  IXTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

reappeared,  and,  before  the  Ethiopian  could  interfere, 
defeated  and  captured  Hoshea  (2  Kgs.  xvii.  4),  and 
invested  Samaria.  He  died  before  the  city  was  taken; 
but  it  finally,  in  722,  surrendered  to  Sargon  II.,  who 
undertook  to  prevent  any  further  trouble  from  it  by 
deporting  many  of  the  inhabitants  and  supplying  their 
places  by  importations  from  Babylon.*  His  policy  was 
not  altogether  successful,  for  again  in  720,  as  he  him- 
self relates,  Samaria  joined  a  league  headed  by  Iaubidi 
of  Ilamath,  of  which  Damascus  also  was  a  member. 
At  the  same  time  Hanno,  king  of  Gaza,  who  had  mean- 
while regained  his  throne,  supported  by  a  strong  body 
of  Egyptians,  took  the  field  against  the  Assyrians.  The 
Hamathite  was  first  overthrown  and  his  allies  scattered. 
Then  Sargon  advanced  to  meet  the  combined  Egyptians 
and  Philistines.     The  battle  took  place  at  Raphia,  on 

II.  54  f.) ;  and  expressly  distinguished  from  Pharaoh,  king  of  the  country. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  So  and  Shabaka  are  not  the  same  person, 
but  that  the  former  is  one  of  the  princes  of  lower  Egypt  through  whom 
the  negotiations  with  Hoshea  were  conducted.  See  McCurdy,  IIPM,  I. 
422 f.;  Winckler,  UAG,  92 f.;  comp.  Schrader,  KAT,  269  f.;  Ragozin, 
SA,  243. 

*  The  following  is  Sargon's  own  account  of  the  matter :  "  Samaria  I 
besieged,  I  captured.  27,290  of  its  inhabitants  I  carried  off.  Fifty  char- 
iots from  their  midst  I  appropriated.  The  rest  I  allowed  to  retain  their 
goods  (?).  My  governor  over  them  I  placed,  and  the  tribute  of  the  former 
king  I  imposed  upon  them."  See  Schrader,  KAT,  272  f.;  KB,  II.,  54  f. 
On  the  date  see  Beecher,  JBL,  1892,  II.  211  ff. 

Tyre  also  seems  to  have  been  concerned  in  this  uprising.  At  any  rate, 
Sargon  claims  to  have  "pacified"  it  (Schrader,  KB,  II.  42  f.).  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  the  story  of  Shalmaneser's  operations  against  it, 
which  Josephus  (A/,  ix.  14,  2)  claims  to  have  copied  from  Menander,  is 
really  an  account  of  Sennacherib's  later  attempt  to  subdue  it.  See  McCurdy, 
HPM,  II.  282;  Meyer,  GA,  I.  433  ff.,  466  f. ;  comp.  Rawlinson,  SP,  1 36  ff. ; 
Tiele,  BAG,  237  f. 


THE    TIMES   OF  ISAIAH.  39 

the  southern  border  of  Philistia,  and  resulted  in  the 
defeat  of  the  allies,  the  capture  of  Hanno,  and  the  sub- 
mission of  the  surrounding  peoples.*  The  king  of 
Egypt  renewed  his  submission  in  715,  also  the  Arabs, 
some  of  whom  Sargon  at  that  time  added  to  his  previous 
importations  into  Samaria,  f 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Judah  was  concerned  in  any 
of  the  uprisings  thus  far  described. $  Indeed,  so  long 
as  Ahaz  lived,  although  its  people  must,  at  times,  have 
been  strongly  tempted  to  make  common  cause  with 
their  neighbors,  they  seem  to  have  remained  loyal  to 
Assyria.  Hezekiah,  however,  when,  in  714,  he  came  to 
the  throne,  appears  to  have  yielded  to  the  influence  of 
an  Egyptian  party  and  adopted  a  different  policy.  An 
opportunity  to  test  its  wisdom  soon  occurred.  Azuri, 
king  of  Ashdod,  meditated  rebellion,  and  called  upon 
the  surrounding  rulers  to  help  him.  He  was  deposed ; 
but,  in  711,  his  people,  instigated  thereto  by  roving  Hit- 
tites,  and  relying  on  the  assistance  of  the  Egyptians, 
dethroned  his  brother  and  successor,  and  asserted  their 
independence  (xx.  i).     The  Philistines  generally  did  the 

*  Sargon  describes  the  battle  and  its  results  as  follows :  "  Hanno,  king 
of  Gaza,  with  Sibu  (Sewe),  tartan  of  Egypt,  advanced  to  offer  me  battle 
and  contest  at  Raphia.  Their  overthrow  I  accomplished.  Sibu,  fearing 
the  din  of  my  arms,  fled,  and  his  retreat  was  not  to  be  found.  Hanno, 
king  of  Gaza,  I  captured.  Tribute  from  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  Samsi, 
queen  of  Arabia,  and  Itamara,  the  Sabean,  — gold,  products  of  the  moun- 
tains, horses,  and  camels,  —  I  received."  See  Schrader,  KA  T,  396  f. ;  KB, 
II.  54  f.  t  See  Schrader,  KA  T,  277  f. ;   KB,  II.  36. 

X  There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  Sargon's  inscriptions  (Schrader,  KB,  II. 
36 f.)  in  which  he  calls  himself  "the  subduer  of  la-u-du";  but,  if  the 
country  in  question  is  Judah,  probably  all  that  is  meant  is,  that,  about  this 
time,  Ahaz  renewed  the  oath  of  allegiance  which  he  had  taken  when  he 
appealed  to  Tiglath-pileser. 


40  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

same;  Judah  also,  and  Edom,  and  Moab.  The  outcome 
was  a  total  failure.  Sargon  easily  took  Ashdod,  which 
he  repeopled  and  transformed  into  an  Assyrian  prov- 
ince. Shabataka,  the  then  king  of  Egypt,  not  only  did 
not  come  to  its  relief,  but  surrendered  Iamani,  the  fueri- 
tive  leader  of  the  rebellion,  to  the  Assyrian  conqueror.* 
Some  of  the  allies  of  the  Ashdoditcs  were  punished. 
The  Jews  do  not  appear  to  have  suffered ;  at  any  rate, 
there  is  no  record  to  that  effect,  f  Perhaps  they  re- 
pented in  time  to  escape  the  fate  of  their  neighbors. 

The  failure  of  Hezekiah's  first  attempt  to  throw  off 
the  Assyrian  yoke  naturally  prevented  him  from  mak- 
ing another  under  similar  circumstances ;  but,  when,  in 
705,  Sargon  was  succeeded  by  Sennacherib,  the  pros- 
pect of  success  in  such  an  undertaking  became  brighter. 
In  the  first  place,  Judah  had  then  regained  much  of 
the  strength  which  it  lost  upon  the  death  of  Uzziah 
(2  Kgs.  xviii.  7  a).  On  the  other  hand,  Assyria  was 
weakened  by  the  internal  disturbances  that  culminated 
in  the  assassination  of  Sargon  ;  and,  when  he  was  gone, 
it  temporarily  lost  nearly  all  of  its  foreign  possessions. 
Finally,  in  Egypt  there  had  arisen  a  vigorous  ruler, 
Tirhaka,^  who  was   eager   to   extend  his  influence  in 

*  In  the  inscription  in  which  Sargon  recalls  the  result  of  this  campaign 
(Schrader,  KAT,  39S  ff.  ;  KB,  II.  64  ff.)  the  king  who  surrenders  Iamani 
is  called  king  of  Milucha  ;  but  Milucha,  it  is  almost  universally  admitted, 
is  only  another  name  for  Ethiopia,  to  which  Egypt  was  at  the  time  subject. 
See  Schrader,  KAT,  205  ;  McCurdy,  1IPM,  II.  245  f.  ;  Delitzsch,  WP, 
56  f .  ;  Meyer,  GA,  I.  457  f.  ;  comp.  Tiele,  BAG,  269  ff.;  Winckler,  AU, 
27. 

f  The  inscription  in  which  Sargon  claims  to  have  subdued  Judah,  if 
Judah  is  meant,  antedates  this  campaign. 

X  Comp.  Winckler,  A  U,  2S  f.,  who  claims  that  Tirhaka  did  not  get  pos- 
session of  Egypt  until  691  B.C. 


THE    TIMES    OF  ISAIAH.  II 

Syria.  It  is  not  surprising,  in  view  of  this  state  of 
things,  that  Hezekiah  thought  it  safe,  not  only  to  en- 
tertain an  embassy  from  Merodach-baladan,  who  had 
again  seized  the  throne  of  Babylonia  (2  Kgs.  xx.  12  ff. ),  * 
but  to  imprison  Padi,  who  had  been  driven  from  that  of 
Ekron.  At  first  it  seemed  as  if  he  had  really  secured 
his  independence  ;  but  Sennacherib  soon  began  to  show 
that,  with  the  sceptre,  he  had  inherited  the  ability  to 
wield  it.  In  a  year  he  had  firmly  established  himself 
on  the  throne  of  his  father.  It  took  him  only  two  more 
to  unseat  the  Babylonian  usurper,  bring  the  peoples  to 
the  north  and  east,  that  had  revolted,  into  subjection, 
and  push  his  conquests  in  the  latter  direction  beyond 
those  of  his  predecessors.  Then,  in  701,  he  turned  his 
attention  westward.  He  first  invaded  Phoenicia  and 
reduced  its  cities,  one  after  another,  in  rapid  succession. 
Thereupon  most  of  the  kings  of  the  neighboring  nations 
returned  to  their  allegiance ;  among  them  Ammon,  Moab, 
Edom,  and  Ashdod.  Three,  at  least,  failed  to  send  tokens 
of  submission,  and  Sennacherib  proceeded  to  reconquer 
them.  Zidka,  a  usurper,  who  seems  to  have  been  re- 
sponsible for  the  revolt  of  Ashkelon,  was  dethroned,  and 
the  crown  restored  to  its  rightful  wearer.  The  Ekron- 
ites  were  next  attacked.  Their  subjugation  was  delayed 
by  the  appearance  of  a  large  force  of  Egyptians,  who 
had  come  to  their  support.  The  respite,  however, 
was  but  a  brief  one.  In  the  battle  at  Eltekeh,  which 
followed,  the  Assyrians  were  victorious.  Tirhaka  re- 
treated, and  Sennacherib,  having  captured  Ekron,  killed 

*  The  story  of  the  embassy  follows  the  account  of  Sennacherib's  invasion, 
but  the  order  of  the  events  was  the  reverse.  Comp.  Ragozin,  SA,  269  ff.  ; 
Tiele,  BA  G,  289. 


42  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

or  deported  the  better  part  of  its  inhabitants.  Judah 
was  now  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  invader,  but 
Hezekiah  made  no  sign  of  submission.  Sennacherib, 
therefore,  sent  a  part  of  his  army  to  ravage  Judah  and 
threaten  Jerusalem,  while  he,  with  the  main  body,  pro- 
ceeded southward  and  invested  Lakish.  When  Heze- 
kiah saw  the  Assyrians,  laden  with  the  spoil  of  his 
lesser  cities,  at  the  very  gates  of  his  capital,  repenting 
the  unwisdom  of  defying  the  great  king,  he  made  haste 
to  release  Padi,  empty  his  treasury,  strip  the  temple  of  its 
ornamentation,  and  even  sacrifice  some  of  his  daughters, 
to  appease  the  conqueror.  The  general  in  command  of 
the  Assyrians,  who  perhaps  had  neither  troops  enough 
nor  the  engines  necessary  for  a  successful  siege,  then 
retired  and  rejoined  his  master  at  Lakish.  Not  long 
afterward,  as  Sennacherib  was  moving  on  Egypt,  his 
army  was  overtaken  by  an  unknown  disaster,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  he  suddenly  changed  his  plans  and 
returned  to  Syria.* 

*The  above  sketch  is  condensed  from  the  three  sources  of  information 
on  the  subject.  Sennacherib's  own  account  of  the  campaign  is  preserved 
in  the  celebrated  Taylor  Cylinder  (Schrader,  KA  T,  28S  ff.  ;  KB,  II.  90  ff.). 
It  is  so  interesting  and  important  that  it  must  be  given  in  full.  It  runs  as 
follows  :  "  In  my  third  expedition  I  went  to  the  land  of  Heth.  Luli,  king 
of  Sidon,  overpowered  by  fear  of  the  splendor  of  my  royalty,  fled  far  into 
the  midst  of  the  sea;  and  I  took  his  land.  Sidon  the  great,  Sidon  the  less, 
Beth-zitti,  Sarepta,  Machallib,  Usha,  Akzib,  Akko,  —  his  strong  towns, — 
the  fortresses  where  there  was  water  and  pasture,  and  shelter  for  his  troops, 
the  might  of  the  arms  of  Asshur,  my  lord,  overwhelmed,  and  they  pros- 
trated themselves  at  my  feet.  Tubalu  on  the  royal  throne  over  them  I 
seated,  and  a  payment  of  tribute  to  my  royalty,  yearly  without  ceasing,  I 
laid  upon  him.  Men  ah  em  of  Samsimuruna,  Tubalu  of  Sidon,  Abdiliti  of 
Arvvad,  Urumilki  of  Gebal,  Mitinti  of  Ashdod,  Buduilu  of  Beth-ammon, 
Kemosh-nadab  of  Moab,  Malkiram  of  Edom,  —  all  the  kings  of  the  West, 
—  brought  rich  gifts,  their  costly  present,  with  goods   (?),  to  me,  and 


THE   TIMES   OF  ISAIAH.  43 

One  would  naturally  infer  from  2  Kgs.  xix.  35  ff., 
that  Sennacherib's  army  was  almost  completely  anni- 

kissed  my  feet.  But  Zidka,  king  of  Ashkelon,  who  did  not  submit  to  my 
yoke,  —  the  gods  of  his  family,  himself,  his  wife,  his  sons,  his  daughters, 
his  brothers,  the  offspring  of  his  family,  I  removed  and  deported  to  Assyria. 
Sharruludari,  son  of  Rukibti,  their  former  king,  over  the  people  of  Ashke- 
lon 1  placed  ;  the  giving  of  tribute  of  submission  to  my  royalty  I  imposed 
upon  him,  and  he  rendered  obedience. 

"  In  the  progress  of  my  expedition,  Beth-dagon,  Joppa,  Bene-barak, 
Hazor,  —  cities  of  Zidka  that  had  not  at  once  prostrated  themselves  at 
my  feet,  —  I  besieged,  captured,  and  plundered.  The  nobles  and  officers 
of  Ekron,  who  had  cast  Padi,  their  king  according  to  sworn  agreement 
with  Assyria,  into  iron  fetters  ;  and  hostilely  delivered  him  to  Hezekiah  of 
Judah,  who  confined  him  in  prison,  —  their  hearts  feared.  The  kings  of 
Egypt  summoned  the  archers  and  chariots  and  horses  of  the  king  of  Ethi- 
opia, a  numberless  force,  and  came  to  their  assistance.  Before  Eltekeh 
the  army  was  arrayed  against  me  ;  they  uplifted  their  weapons.  Relying 
on  Asshur,  my  lord,  I  fought  with  them  and  wrought  their  overthrow.  The 
captain  of  the  chariots,  and  the  sons  of  a  king  of  Egypt,  with  the  captain 
of  the  chariots  of  the  king  of  Ethiopia,  alive  in  the  midst  of  battle,  my 
hand  seized.  Eltekeh  and  Timnath  I  besieged,  captured,  and  plundered. 
Against  Ekron  I  advanced.  The  nobles  and  officers  who  had  caused  re- 
volt I  slew,  and  their  corpses  on  stakes  I  hanged  about  the  city.  The 
people  of  the  city  who  had  done  wrong  and  injury  I  reckoned  as  prisoners. 
To  the  rest,  who  had  not  wrought  revolt  or  wickedness,  who  had  not  com- 
mitted their  crime,  I  proclaimed  amnesty.  Padi,  their  former  king,  from 
Jerusalem  I  brought  forth,  set  him  upon  the  royal  throne  over  them,  and 
laid  the  tribute  to  my  royalty  upon  him. 

"  Hezekiah  of  Judah,  also,  who  did  not  submit  to  my  yoke,  —  forty-six 
of  his  strong  cities,  and  the  fortresses  and  small  places  in  their  vicinity 
without  number,  with  trampling  of  a-ram-mi,  attack  of  "sn-pi-i,  battle,  zu- 
uk  of  feet,  pil-si  nik-si  u  kal-ban-na-ti,  I  besieged  and  captured.  Twenty 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  people,  small  and  great,  male  and  female, 
horses,  mules,  asses,  camels,  oxen,  and  sheep  without  number,  I  brought 
forth  and  reckoned  as  booty.  Him,  like  a  bird  in  a  cage,  in  Jerusalem, 
his  royal  city,  I  enclosed.  Bulwarks  against  him  I  reared,  and  he  who 
came  forth  from  the  gate  of  the  city  I  turned  back.  The  cities  that  I  had 
plundered  from  his  land  I  severed  ;  and  I  gave  them  to  Mitinti,  king  of 
Ashdod,  Padi,  king  of  Ekron,  and  Silbil,  king  of  Gaza  ;   and  I  diminished 


44  LXTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

hilated  by  the  angel  of  Jehovah,  and  that  he  himself 
escaped  only  to  be  assassinated  by  two  of  his  sons  soon 
after  his  return  to  Nineveh.  This,  however,  was  not 
the  case.  In  the  first  place,  although,  as  one  can  read 
between  the  lines  of  his  own  statements,  he  was  obliged 
to  abandon  his  plan  for  the  conquest  of  Egypt,  his 
expedition  was  so  far  successful  that  he  retained  his 
hold  on  the  region  actually  overrun,  and  prevented 
Tirhaka  from  getting  possession  of  it.  Secondly,  he 
lived  after  his  return  no  fewer  than  twenty  years,  and 

his  land.  To  the  former  tribute,  their  annual  gift,  a  present  of  submission 
to  my  royalty  I  added,  and  I  imposed  it  upon  them.  Hezekiah  himself 
fear  of  the  splendor  of  my  royalty  prostrated  ;  the  Urbi,  also,  and  his 
brave  troops,  whom,  to  strengthen  Jerusalem,  his  royal  city,  he  had 
brought  in  and  granted  wages(?).  With  thirty  talents  of  gold  and  eight 
hundred  talents  of  silver,  I  caused  precious  stones,  sparkling  gu-uJi-li, 
great  ukni,  ivory  couches,  lofty  thrones  of  ivory,  elephant  skins,  ivory, 
usu  wood,  ukarinnu  wood,  every  thing,  —  great  treasure, — also  his 
daughters,  women  of  the  palace,  and  male  and  female  attendants,  to  be 
brought  to  Nineveh,  my  royal  abode,  after  me.  To  pay  tribute,  also,  and 
render  submission,  he  sent  his  messenger." 

Lakish  is  not  mentioned  in  this  inscription,  but  there  exists  a  picture 
from  one  of  the  halls  of  Sennacherib's  palace  at  Nineveh,  in  which  he  is 
represented  as  receiving  the  spoils  of  the  captured  city.  See  Ragozin, 
SA,  306. 

The  biblical  account  of  Sennacherib's  invasion  (xviii.  13-xix.  37)  be- 
gins with  a  brief  statement  (xviii.  13-16)  in  perfect  harmony,  so  far  as 
it  goes,  with  the  Assyrian  record.  This,  however,  is  followed  by  a  de- 
tailed narrative  to  the  effect  that  Sennacherib,  as  it  would  seem  after 
having  received  the  fine  imposed,  made  two  attempts  to  get  possession  of 
Jerusalem :  first  sending  his  lieutenant  with  a  strong  force  from  Lakish  to 
overpower  it  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  17);  and  afterward,  on  hearing  that  Tirhaka 
was  advancing,  despatching  a  letter  warning  Hezekiah  that  resistance 
would  be  useless  (2  Kgs.  xix.  9)  :  but  that  Jehoveh  interposed  and  smote 
1S5.000  of  the  Assyrians,  whereupon  Sennacherib  returned  to  his  own 
country  (2  Kgs.  xix.  35  ff.).  If  Sennacherib,  after  making  terms  with 
Hezekiah,  really  made  any  further  attempt,  or  attempts,  to  get  possession 


THE    TIMES    OF  ISAIAH.  45 

conducted  several  successful  campaigns,  one  of  which 
was  directed  against  Edom  and  the  Arabs  on  its  border.* 
Finally,  in  68 1  B.C.,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Esar- 
haddon  ;  but  before  that  date  (686)  Hezekiah  had  been 
succeeded  by  Manasseh,  and  Isaiah,  also,  had  probably 
finished  his  labors. 

The  dates  of  the  persons  and  events  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  discussion  have  been  given,  each  in  the  proper 
connection,  but  they  can  be  put  into  a  form  more  con- 
venient for  review  or  reference.  The  following  table  is 
intended  to  serve  such  purposes. 

of  Jerusalem,  the  fact  may  be  explained  in  one  of  two  ways.  It  may  be, 
as  the  Hebrew  historian  seems  to  have  intended  to  make  it  appear,  that, 
in  so  doing,  he  simply  broke  faith  with  his  vassal.  On  the  other  hand, 
although  the  biblical  narrative  contains  no  hint  that  such  was  the  case, 
it  may  be  that  Hezekiah,  by  continuing  his  intrigues  with  Tirhaka,  gave 
the  Assyrian  king  reason  for  insisting  upon  the  surrender  of  the  city.  All 
this,  on  the  supposition  that  any  such  attempt  was  made,  which,  however, 
is  far  from  certain.  The  biblical  narrative  is  probably  a  compilation 
from  three  different  sources.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  plain,  that  xviii.  14- 
16.  which  does  not  appear  in  Isa.  xxxvi.,  is  foreign  to  its  present  con- 
nection ;  and  secondly,  when  xviii.  17-xix.  8  and  xix.  9-34  are  compared, 
the  remarkable  similarity  between  them  makes  it  equally  clear  that  they 
are  different  versions  of  the  same  story.  See  Stade,  GVI,  I.  617  f.  But, 
if  these  three  passages  are  really  parallel,  and  not  continuous,  the  demand 
for  the  surrender  of  the  city  may  be  inserted  before  the  payment  of  the 
fine  imposed,  and  the  Hebrew  thus  brought  into  as  nearly  perfect  harmony 
with  the  Assyrian  record  as  could  be  expected.  Of  course  Sennacherib 
would  not  report  the  disaster  in  which  the  Hebrews  saw  the  hand  of 
Jehovah. 

There  is  an  Egyptian  tradition  with  reference  to  this  disaster,  preserved 
by  Herodotus  (II.  141),  to  the  effect  that  it  occurred  near  Pelusium  ; 
where  an  army  of  mice,  by  divine  command,  destroyed  the  weapons  of  the 
Assyrians  and  thus  made  them  an  easy  prey  to  the  Egyptians.  See  Mc- 
Curdy,  HPM,  II.  298  f. 

*  See  Schrader,  KB,  II.  130  f.;  Meyer,  GA,  I.  471 ;  comp.  McCurdy, 
HPM,  II.  301. 


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4S  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

III. 

THE  PROPHECIES  OF  ISAIAH. 

The  book  of  Isaiah  is  so  called,  because,  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  was  all  but 
universally  believed  to  be  the  work  of  the  prophet 
whose  name  it  bears.  That  opinion  is  now  almost 
obsolete,  f  The  last  twenty-seven  chapters  of  the  book, 
which  deal  with  the  condition  and  expectations  of  the 
Jews  in  and  after  the  Exile  from  the  contemporary 
standpoint,  and  differ  from  the  first  part  in  style  and 
doctrine,  are  generally  regarded  by  scholars  as  the 
product  of  the  period  with  which  they  have  to  do. 
They  should  therefore  be  treated  as  a  separate  book, 
requiring  a  special  introduction. 

The  book  of  Isaiah,  then,  includes  at  most  only  the 
first  thirty-nine  chapters  of  the  present  collection.  In- 
deed, it  is  no  longer  possible  to  assert  without  contra- 
diction, that  the  whole  of  this  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
prophet.  There  are  various  passages  in  it  whose  genu- 
ineness is  questioned ;  and  some  of  them  bear  so  evi- 
dent marks  of  other  origin  that  few  authorities  continue 
to  regard  them  as  Isaianic.  The  most  important  of  these 
acknowledged  additions  are  xi.  io-xii.  6,  xiii.  i-xiv.  23, 
xxi.  1-10,  xxiv.-xxvii.,  xxxiv.-xxxv.,  and  xxxvi.-xxxix. 
These  passages  are  not  all  of  the  same  period.  Some 
of  them  reflect  the  events  and  conditions  of  the  Exile. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  xiii.  i-xiv.  23  and  xxi.  1-10,  like 

*  Koppe,  in  his  translation  of  Lowth's  Isaiah,  1779-81,  was  the  first  to 
break  with  tradition,  doubting  the  genuineness  of  the  fiftieth  chapter. 


THE  TROniECIES   OF  ISAIAH.  49 

xlvii.,  belong  to  this  period.  It  is  possible  that  xi.  10- 
xii.  1 6  is  of  the  same  age,  but  more  probable,  to  judge 
from  the  tameness  of  its  style  and  the  inferiority  of  its 
contents,  that  it  is  to  be  classed  with  lvi.-lxvi.  among 
the  products  of  a  later  period.  To  the  same  period 
belong  xxiv.-xxvii.  and  xxxiv.-xxxv.  (With  xxxiv.  com- 
pare lxiii.  1-6.)  The  former,  however,  is  later  than 
the  latter  ;  in  fact,  its  apocryphal  tone,  and  the  refer- 
ence to  the  West  in  xxiv.  14,  indicate  that  it  was  written 
when  the  overthrow  of  the  Persian  empire  was  immi- 
nent. The  date  of  xxxvi.-xxxix.,  in  its  original  form,  is 
that  of  the  books  of  Kings,  from  which  it  was  taken. 
In  its  present  form  it  is  considerably  later ;  for  the 
psalm  of  Hezekiah  is  post-Exilic.  The  doubtful  pas- 
sages are  more  numerous ;  *  but  since,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  xv.  i-xvi.  12  and  xxi.  1 1— 1 5,  which  are  attributed 
to  a  predecessor  of  Isaiah,  they  are  referred  by  those 
who  question  their  genuineness  to  the  same  period  as 
the  recognized  additions,  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss 
them  in  the  present  connection.  It  is  enough  to  have 
discovered  that  the  first  part  of  the  so-called  book  of 
Isaiah  contains  extended  passages  not  written  by  Isaiah, 
most  of  which  are  the  products  of  a  much  later  period. 
Having  gotten  an  idea  of  the  contents  of  the  collec- 
tion in  which  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  have  been  pre- 
served, the  next  step  is  to  study  its  arrangement.  The 
simplest  and  most  natural  order  is  that  according  to 
date ;  and  this  appears  to  have  been  to  some  extent 
observed.     The   earliest   prophecies,    as    a   rule,    come 

*  The  latest  critics  have  added  greatly  to  their  number.  Cheyne,  in  his 
Introduction  to  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  finds  only  about  a  third  of  the  first 
thirty-nine  chapters  genuine. 


50  IXTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

among  the  first,  and  the  latest  among  the  last,  in  the 
collection  ;  but  there  are  many  puzzling  exceptions. 
In  the  first  place,  the  additions,  which  one  would  ex- 
pect to  find  grouped  together  at  the  end,  are  scattered 
through  the  collection ;  with  the  exception  of  xxxvi.- 
xxxix.,  which  is  properly  treated  as  an  appendix.  Nor 
do  the  genuine  prophecies  follow  one  another  in  chro- 
nological order.  The  least  surprising  exception  is  the 
first  chapter ;  since,  although,  as  will  hereafter  be 
shown,  it  was  probably  written  about  720  B.C.,  its  com- 
prehensive character  explains  why  it,  rather  than  vi., 
should  have  been  given  the  place  of  an  introduction. 
The  most  striking  instances  of  displacement  among  the 
earlier  prophecies  are  ix.  7/8-x.  4  and  x.  5-34.  The 
former,  though  not  all  of  a  piece,  is  all  older  than  any 
part  of  chapters  vii.  and  viii.,  while  parts  of  the  latter 
are  among  the  latest  utterances  of  the  prophet.  In  the 
last  chapters  there  is  only  one  example  (xxviii.  1-4), 
and  this  may  be  a  quotation,  by  Isaiah  himself,  of  an 
earlier  utterance.  Among  the  oracles  concerning  the 
nations,  on  the  other  hand,  the  matter  of  dates  seems  to 
have  been  almost  entirely  disregarded.  Thus,  while  xiv. 
24-27  evidently  belongs  to  the  year  701,  the  next  sec- 
tion, which  is  wrongly  dated  in  the  year  that  Ahaz 
died,  cannot  be  earlier  than  705.  There  is  a  similar 
union  of  prophecies  of  different  dates  in  chapter  xvii.  ; 
for,  while  vv.  i-n  antedate  the  overthrow  of  Damascus 
by  Tiglath-pileser,  vv.  12-14  must  be  referred  to  the 
date  of  Sennacherib's  invasion.  The  next  chapter  is 
of  the  same  date,  but  xx.  records  words  uttered  ten 
years  earlier,  when  Sargon  was  subduing  Ashdod.  In 
xxii.,  however,   the  reader  again  finds  himself  in  the 


THE  PROPHECIES   OF  ISAIAH.  51 

midst  of  the  excitement  of  Sennacherib's  famous 
campaign. 

The  idea  suggests  itself  that,  perhaps,  in  this  series 
of  prophecies,  the  principle  of  arrangement  is  that 
according  to  subject  or  content;  but  this  principle, 
also,  although  most  of  the  prophecies  deal  with  the 
fate  of  the  nations  surrounding  Palestine,  is  repeatedly 
disregarded.  Thus,  e.g.,  the  group  contains  extended 
passages  that  belong  elsewhere.  The  "burden  of 
Damascus,"  xvii.  i-ii,  is  one  of  them,  its  real  subject 
being  Israel ;  and  xx.  is  another.  The  former  belongs 
among  the  first,  the  latter  among  the  last,  of  the  collec- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  contain  all  that 
belongs  to  it.  Why  should  xiv.  24-27  and  xvii.  12-14 
have  been  assigned  to  the  places  which  they  occupy, 
and  x.  5-34,  on  the  same  subject,  inserted  where  it  now 
stands?  Finally,  prophecies  on  the  same  subject  are, 
in  the  case  of  xiv.  24-27  and  xvii.  12-14,  separated  from 
each  other. 

It  is  now  time  to  seek  an  explanation  for  the  facts 
noted.  The  first  question  is  whether  the  present  arrange- 
ment of  the  collection  is  the  original  one.  There  are 
good  reasons  for  believing  that  it  is  not.  In  the  first 
place  there  is  too  much,  or  too  little,  regard  paid  to  the 
simplest  principles  of  arrangement  to  allow  one  to  sup- 
pose that  the  original  was  the  final  order.  Moreover, 
the  title  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  chapter  seems 
to  show  that  the  present  collection  grew  out  of  a  smaller 
one.  How?  This  is  the  second  question.  By  the  grad- 
ual process  of  accidental  accretion,  or  through  the 
agency  of  another  editor  or  editors  ?  If  the  former  were 
the  case,  it  would  be  impossible  to  discover  any  evidence 


52  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

of  design  in  the  seeming  disorder.  Such  evidence,  how- 
ever, exists.  It  is  found  in  the  distribution  of  the  later 
additions  to  the  Isaianic  nucleus  supposed,  especially  in 
the  places  assigned  to  xi.  io-xii.  6,  xxiv.-xxvii.,  and 
xxxiv.-xxxv.  These  three  passages  close  the  three  books 
into  which  the  collection  is  most  naturally  divided.  The 
cases  of  xi.  io-xii.  6.  and  xxxiv.-xxxv.  are  so  clear  that 
no  one  would  think  of  objecting  to  this  statement.  The 
other  passage  has  oftenest  been  connected  with  the 
chapters  following;  but  the  analogy  of  the  first  and 
third  divisions,  the  character  of  chapter  xxiv.,  —  it  de- 
scribes a  general  judgment  affecting  all  nations,  —  and 
the  references  there  and  elsewhere  to  a  ruined  city,*  all 
unite  to  produce  the  impression  that  the  whole  passage, 
ending,  like  the  other  two,  in  a  prediction  of  a  return  to 
Palestine,!  was  intended  to  furnish  a  fitting  conclusion 
to  the  preceding  series  of  prophecies  concerning  the 
nations,  the  last  of  which  describes  the  overthrow  of 
the  capital  of  Phoenicia. 

The  passages  cited  show  that  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
owe  their  final  setting  to  an  editor  as  late  as  the  latest 
of  these  additions.  But  this  does  not  exhaust  their 
significance.  They  betray  the  purpose  that  prompted 
the  rearrangement  and  enlargement  of  the  collection, 
and  furnish  an  explanation  of  some  of  the  (from  another 
point  of  view)  irregularities  that  have  perplexed  readers. 

The  purpose  of  the  editor  is  revealed  in  the  similar 
words  with  which  each  of  the  books  closes.     Says  xi. 

*  xxiv.  10,  12;  xxv.  2;  xxvi.  5;  xxvii.  10.  This  point  holds  good  what- 
ever the  city  referred  to,  since  the  references  to  it,  as  mere  catchwords, 
would  connect  it  with  chapter  xxiii. 

t  xxvii.  13;    comp.  xi.  16  and  xxxv.  10. 


THE  PROPHECIES   OE  ISAIAH.  53 

1 6,  which  is  the  real  conclusion  of  the  first:  "There 
shall  be  a  highway,  for  the  remnant  of  his  people  that 
remaineth,  from  Assyria,  as  there  was  for  Israel  in  the 
day  when  they  came  up  from  the  land  of  Egypt."  The 
words  of  xxvii.  13  are:  "It  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
day,  that  a  great  trumpet  shall  be  blown ;  and  they  that 
are  wandering  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  they  that  are 
scattered  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  shall  come  and  worship 
Jehovah  in  the  holy  mountain  at  Jerusalem."  Finally, 
chapter  xxxv.  closes,  v.  10,  with  the  assurance:  "The 
ransomed  of  Jehovah  shall  return  and  come  to  Zion 
with  singing;  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  on  their 
heads.  They  shall  obtain  gladness  and  joy ;  and  sor- 
row and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  These  words,  chosen 
to  be  the  last  to  engage  the  reader's  thought,  clearly 
mean,  that  he  who  put  them  where  they  stand  did  so 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  to  the  collection  a  hopeful 
tone,  and  thus  stimulating  his  compatriots  to  expect  the 
promised  restoration.  This  purpose,  once  discovered, 
explains  the  recurrence  of  comforting  passages  through- 
out the  collection.  The  reader  was  to  be  constantly 
reminded  that  God  could  not  forsake  his  people.  It 
explains  also  the  fact  that  the  additions  to  the  genuine 
prophecies  are  largely  of  this  character.  Even  Isaiah 
had  not  dwelt  on  the  glory  and  happiness  of  Israel's 
future  as  much  as  this  later  prophet  would  have  had 
him.  Finally,  it  explains  the  violence  done  to  the  orig- 
inal arrangement.  Take  the  case  of  ix.  7/8-xi.  16. 
The  two  passages,  ix.  1/2-6/7  and  xi.  1-9  are  of  nearly 
the  same  date.  They  would  therefore  naturally  have 
been  placed,  the  one  immediately  after  the  other.  They 
are  separated,  as  has  already  been  described,  by  two 


54  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

passages,  one  of  which  is  somewhat  earlier  and  the 
other  considerably  later.  Notice,  however,  that,  by  the 
introduction  of  these  two  passages  in  their  actual  order, 
a  new  group,  in  which  the  main  points  of  Isaiah's  mes- 
sage appear  in  their  logical  relation,  is  produced,  and 
the  effectiveness  of  the  promise  enhanced.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  order  of  the  last  two  books  was  changed 
when  the  collection  was  remodelled.  If  so,  this  change 
is  another  manifestation  of  the  dominance  of  the  pur- 
pose in  question.* 

The  outcome  of  the  preceding  discussion  of  the  con- 
tent and  arrangement  of  chapters  i.-xxxix.  of  the  book  of 
Isaiah,  makes  it  possible  to  form  a  reasonably  satis- 
factory theory  with  reference  to  the  origin  of  the  collec- 
tion. First,  there  must  have  been  a  collection  consisting 
entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  of  genuine  prophecies.  It 
was  made,  not  by  Isaiah,  or  one  of  his  immediate  dis- 
ciples, but  by  some  one  remote  enough  from  him  to  be 
unable  in  some  cases  to  perceive  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  prophecies  were  uttered.  He  found 
them  circulating  singly  or  in  small  groups,  and  put  them 
into  a  more  intelligible  and  permanent  form.  He  doubt- 
less intended  to  arrange  them  in  chronological  order, 
and  did,  as  far  as  he  could,  so  arrange  those  that  related 
directly  to  his  own  people ;  but,  since  those  concerning 
the  neighboring  nations  for  various  reasons  could  not  be 
included  in  such  a  plan,  he  naturally  placed  them  in  a 
sort  of  appendix  at  the  end  of  his  book.     How  these 

*  The  position  of  ii.  2-4  at  the  beginning  of  a  group  of  prophecies  is 
anomalous.  Lagarde  (Semitica,  I.  7)  suggests  that  it  was  originally 
attached  to  the  first  chapter.  Perhaps  it  was  inserted  by  another  after 
the  editor's  work  was  done. 


THE  PROPHECIES   OF  ISA  TAIL  55 

appended  prophecies  were  arranged  it  seems  impossible 
to  discover ;  probably  not  in  the  order  in  which  they 
appear  in  the  present  collection.  Finally,  there  arose 
one  who  felt  himself  authorized  and  commissioned  to 
adapt  Isaiah's  utterances  to  the  needs  of  his  own  gener- 
ation. To  this  end  he  rearranged  them  and  introduced 
later  prophecies,  especially  such  as  were  inspired  by 
faith  in  the  restoration  of  his  people  to  their  country. 
The  story  of  the  great  deliverance  under  Hezekiah  was 
added ;  and,  to  bring  it  into  closer  connection  with  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  concerning  it,  those  relating  to  the 
nations,  with  some  additions,  were  placed  in  the  middle 
of  the  collection,  furnished  with  a  conclusion,  and  thus 
made  a  distinct  book.*  There  is  reason  for  believing 
that,  in  this  book,  the  places  of  some  at  least  of  the 
prophecies  were  determined  by  catchwords. f 

The  bearing  of  the  conclusions  reached  is  obvious. 
If,  even  in  chapters  i.-xxxix.,  there  are  considerable 
portions  that  were  not  written  by  the  prophet,  and  the 
portions  that  may  safely  be  attributed  to  him  have  been 
edited  by  a  later  man  of  God,  then  the  collection  as  a 
whole  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  correctly  represent- 
ing him  and  his  teaching.     If  one  would  know  what  he 

*  Cornill  (ZA  IV,  1SS4,  92  ff.)  claims  that  the  prophecies  of  the  second 
book  are  a  development  of  xi.  II,  where  the  nations  among  which  the  Jews 
had  been  scattered  are  enumerated;  butDuhm  and  others  hold  that  all  the 
names  there  found,  except  Assyria  and  Egypt,  have  been  interpolated.  If 
they  do  not  belong  to  the  original  text,  it  is  probable  that  they  were  inserted 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  connection  which  did  not  previously  exist. 

f  Cornill,  in  the  article  above  quoted,  undertakes  to  show  that  the 
arrangement  of  almost  the  entire  collection  was  determined  by  catchwords; 
but  it  is  a  fair  question  whether  some  of  his  supposed  catchwords  are  not 
accidental  coincidences  or  the  repetitions  by  which  paragraphs  are  often 
connected  in  composition. 


56  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

really  was  and  taught,  one  must  separate  what  he  said 
or  wrote  from  its  present  connection  and  read  it  by  itself 
in  the  light  of  the  history  of  his  time.  In  so  doing,  how- 
ever, one  should  not  ignore,  or  reject  as  valueless,  the 
remaining  contents  of  the  collection.  They,  too,  are  the 
product  of  inspiration,  the  utterances  of  men  who  knew 
God  and  loved  their  people  so  well  that  they  could  not 
believe  that  the  glorious  visions  of  their  revered  prede- 
cessor would  not  yet  be  fulfilled  and  Israel  once  more 
become  a  great  nation.  Nor  should  the  insertion  of 
these  passages  among  the  works  of  Isaiah  be  condemned 
or  lamented.  It  was  an  act  of  faith,  and  not  an  attempt 
at  deception ;  and  the  result  was  a  means  of  stimulus  to 
faith  for  which  men  will  never  cease  to  be  grateful. 

A  more  minute  analysis  of  chapters  i.-xii.  will  be  made 
in  the  course  of  the  comments  to  which  the  rest  of  this 
volume  is  to  be  devoted.  For  the  present  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  present  in  tabular  form  the  result  of  that 
analysis. 

In  the  first  table,  these  chapters,  and  provisionally  the 
remaining  twenty-seven  of  the  first  half  of  the  book  of 
Isaiah,  are  divided  into  their  component  parts  and  the 
date  of  each  passage  indicated. 

i.    I,  editorial;  2-31,  c.  720. 
ii.    1,  editorial;   2-4  post-Exilic;   5,  editorial;    6-21,  735,  except  20 

(editorial) ;   22,  editorial, 
iii.    735;   except  10 f.,  18-23,  and  24 b-26  (editorial). 
iv.    2-4,735;    5  f.,   editorial. 

v.    1-24,735;   except  15  f.  (editorial) ;   25-29,734;   30,  editorial, 
vi.    730±. 

vii.    734;   except  8  b  (editorial)  and  18  f.  (702). 

viii.    1-8,  734;  except  3 f.  (733);   9f.,70l;    11-15,734;    16-22,  730 ±  ; 
23  (ix.  1),  editorial. 


THE  PROPHECIES   OF  ISAIAH.  57 

ix.  1/2-6/7,  730±  ;   7/8-20/21,735;   except  14/15  f.  (editorial). 

x.  1-4,   735;    except    4b     (editorial);     5-15,     701;     except    IO-I2 

(editorial);    16-27,  editorial;   28-32,711;   33  f.,  editorial, 

xi.  1-9,  730 ±  ;    10-16,  post-Exilic. 

xii.  post-Exilic, 

xiii.  Exilic. 

xiv.  1-23,  Exilic;   24-27,701;   28-32,705. 

xv.  775  ±. 

xvi.  I-I2,  775  ±;    13  f.,  711. 

xvii.  1-11,735;    12-14,701. 

xviii.  1-6,  701;   7,  post-Exilic, 

xix.  1— 15,  665  ±  ;    16-25,  post-Exilic. 

xx.  711. 

xxi.  I-IO,  Exilic;    11-15,  775 ±  ;    l6f.,  711. 

xxii.  1-14,701;    15-23,702;   24  f.,  editorial, 

xxiii.  1-14,  702;    15-18,  post-Exilic, 

xxiv.  post-Exilic. 

xxv.  post-Exilic, 

xxvi.  post-Exilic. 

xxvii.  post-Exilic. 

xxviii.  1-4,734;   5  f.,  editorial;   7-29,704. 

xxix.  1-15,702;   except  5  and  8  (editorial)  ;    16-24,  post-Exilic. 

xxx.  I— 17,  702;    18-26,  post-Exilic;    27-33,  701. 

xxxi.  702;   except  6 f.  (editorial). 

xxxii.  1-8,  Exilic;   9-14,702;    1 5-20,  post-Exilic, 

xxxiii.  post-Exilic. 

xxxiv.  post-Exilic. 

xxxv.  post-Exilic. 

xxxvi.  600. 

xxxvii.  600. 

xxxviii.  1-8,600;   9-20,  post-Exilic;    21  f.,  600. 

xxxix.  600. 

In  the  second  table  an  attempt  is  made  to  show  the 
connection  of  thought  which  the  editor  of  the  collection 
may  be  supposed  to  have  seen  between  the  prophecies 
and  fragments  of  prophecies  united  in  the  first  twelve 
chapters  to  be  interpreted.  It  will  also  serve  as  an 
outline  for  the  proposed  comments. 


5S  INTRODUCTORY  STUDIES. 

A.  An  introductory  summary,  i.  2-31. 

1.  The  perversity  uf  God's  chosen,  w.  2-9. 

a.  The  baseness  of  it,  vv.  2-4. 

b.  The  folly  of  it,  vv.  5-9. 

2.  The  requirements  of  Jehovah,  vv.  10-20. 

a.  The  forms  of  religion,  vv.  10-15  a. 

b.  The  substance  of  piety,  vv.  15  b-20. 

(1)  The  outward  manifestation,  vv.  15  b— 17. 

(2)  The  inward  disposition,  vv.  18-20. 

3.  The  faithful  town,  vv.  21-31. 

a.  Its  degeneracy,  vv.  21-23. 

b.  Its  regeneration,  vv.  24-31. 

B.  The  future  of  God's  people,  ii.-xii. 
I.   The  disloyal  mass,  ii.  2-vi.  13. 

a.  The  ideal  and  its  realization,  ii.  2-iv.  6. 

(1)  A  universal  shrine,  ii.  2-4. 

(2)  A  separation  of  the  unworthy,  ii.  5-iv.  1. 

(a)  A  general  visitation,  ii.  5-21. 

a.   The  curse  of  prosperity,  vv.  5—1 1. 
/3.   A  general  overthrow,  vv.  12-17. 
7.    The  useless  idols,  vv.  18-21. 

(b)  The  portion  of  Judah,  ii.  22-iv.  1. 
a.   The  pillars  of  society,  ii.  22-iii.  7. 
/3.  The  defiant  rebels,  iii.  S-15. 

7.    The  wanton  women,  iii.  16-iv.  1. 

(3)  The  rescued  remnant,  iv.  2-6. 

b.  The  unprofitable  vineyard,  v. 

(1)  The  parable,  vv.  1-7. 

(2)  The  development,  vv.  8-30. 

(a)  The  sinners  after  their  kinds,  w.  8-24. 

a.  The  avaricious,  vv.  8-10. 

j3.  The  dissolute,  vv.  11-17. 

7.  The  presumptuous,  vv.  i8f. 

5.  The  perverse,  v.  20. 

e.  The  conceited,  v.  21. 

f.  The  corrupt,  vv.  22-24. 

(V)  The  avenger  of  Jehovah,  vv.  25-30. 

c.  The  vision  of  Isaiah,  vi. 

(1)  The  Holy  One  of  Israel,  vv.  1-7. 

(2)  The  prophet's  commission,  vv.  8-13. 


THE  PROPHECIES   OF  ISAIAH.  59 

2.   The  loyal  remnant,  vii-xii. 

a.  Faith  and  its  rewards,  vii.  i-ix.  6/7. 

(1)  Faith  in  man,  vii.  i-viii.  8. 
(a)  The  child  Immanu-el,  vii. 

a.    Ahaz'  dilemma,  vv.  1-9. 
/3.   A  sign  and  its  import,  vv.  10-17. 
7.   The  devastation  of  Judah,  vv.  18-25. 
(ti)  The  boy  Maher-shalal-hash-baz,  viii.  1-8. 
a.   The  overthrow  of  the  allies,  vv.  1-4. 
j3.    The  inundation  of  Judah,  vv.  5-8. 

(2)  Faith  in  God,  viii.  9-ix.  6/7. 
(a)  The  only  danger,  viii.  9-15. 

(<$)  The  coming  darkness,  viii.  16-23  (ix.  1). 
(c)  A  great  light,  ix.  1/2-6/7. 

b.  The  work  of  Jehovah,  ix.  7/S-xii.  6. 

(1)  A  succession  of  chastisements,  ix.  7/8-x.  4. 
{a)   Foreign  foes,  ix.  7/8-11/ 12. 

{U)  Merciless  pestilence,  ix.  12/13-16/17. 
(<r)   Internal  strife,  ix.  17/1S-20/21. 
(a?)   Death  or  captivity,  x.  I -4. 

(2)  The  rod  of  God's  anger,  x.  5-34. 

(tf)  The  boast  of  the  Assyrian,  vv.  5— II. 
(3)  The  overthrow  of  the  boaster,  vv.  12-19. 
(<r)  The  liberation  of  the  remnant,  vv.  20-27. 
(</)  The  decisive  hour,  vv.  28-34. 

(3)  A  new  order,  xi-xii. 

(«)   An  ideal  kingdom,  xi.  1-10. 

a.  The  inspired  king,  vv.  1-5. 

/3.  The  reign  of  peace,  vv.  6-10. 
(<5)  The  restoration  of  the  outcast,  xi.  11-16. 
(<r)   Songs  of  salvation,  xii. 

o.    A  song  of  faith,  vv.  1-3. 

/3.  A  song  of  praise,  vv.  4-6.* 

*  Comp.  Kellner  {PI),  whose  outline  of  the  collection  is  based  upon 
an  arrangement  of  the  genuine  prophecies  in  chronological  order. 


TRANSLATION   AND    COMMENTS. 


aXKc 


I. 

REVELATIONS   TO   ISAIAH,* 

son  of  A?nos,  wJiich  lie  beheld  concerning  JudaJi  and 
Jerusalem,  in  the  days  of  UzziaJi,  Jotham,  AJiaz,  a?id 
Hesekiah,  kings  of  Jndah. 

A. 

l.  a.  2  Hear,  O  heaven !  and  give  ear,  O  earth  !  for 
Jehovah  hath  spoken  :  Children  have  I  reared,  brought  f 
up;  and  they  —  have  revolted  from  me.  3An  ox  know- 
eth  its  owner,  and  an  ass  its  master's  crib  :  Israel  have 
not  understood,  my  people  have  not  considered.  4Ah, 
erring  nation  !  people  laden  with  iniquity  !  seed  of  evil- 
doers !  wayward  children  !  They  have  forsaken  Jeho- 
vah, they  have  rejected  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  — 
become  apostate. 

b.  5  Why  should  ye  increase  your  stripes  by  continued 
apostasy  ?  the  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart 

*  In  this  translation,  the  parts  believed  to  be  genuine  are  printed  in 
common  type;  the  rest  in  Italics.  Words  or  clauses  restored  are  indicated 
by  brackets,  while  glosses  upon  non-Isaianic  passages  are  enclosed  between 
marks  of  parenthesis.  fText:   and  brought. 

60 


I.  5-17]  TRANSLATION.  61 

diseased.  6  From  the  sole  of  the  foot  to  the  very  head 
there  is  no  soundness  ;  but  wounds,  and  wales,  and  fresh 
sores ;  which  have  neither  been  purged,  nor  bound  up, 
nor  mollified  with  oil.  "  Your  land  is  a  desert ;  your 
cities  are  burned  with  fire ;  as  for  your  soil,  strangers 
devour  it  before  your  eyes ;  and  it  is  a  desert  as  when 
Sodom  *  was  *  overthrown.  8  Yea,  Zion  the  fair  is  left 
like  a  booth  in  a  vineyard,  like  a  lodge  in  a  field  of 
cucumbers,  like  a  city  besieged.  9  Had  not  Jehovah  of 
Hosts  left  us  a  remnant,  we  should  soon  have  been  as 
Sodom,  we  should  have  become  like  Gomorrah. 

2.  a.  10  Hear  the  message  of  Jehovah,  O  rulers  of 
Sodom  !  Give  ear  to  the  teaching  of  our  God,  O  people 
of  Gomorrah  !  n  What  profit  have  I  in  the  multitude  of 
your  sacrifices  ?  saith  Jehovah  :  I  am  sated  with  offer- 
ings of  rams  and  the  fat  of  fatlings ;  and  in  the  blood 
of  bulls,  and  lambs,  and  he-goats  I  take  no  delight. 
12  When  ye  come  to  see  f  my  face,  who  hath  required  of 
you  this  —  trampling  of  my  courts?  13  Bring  no  more  a 
worthless  vegetable  offering  ;  its  fume  is  detestable  unto 
me.  New-moon  and  sabbath,  proclamation  of  holiday, 
—  I  cannot  away  with  falsehood  and  —  festivity.  I4  Your 
new-moons  and  your  feasts  my  soul  hateth  :  they  are  a 
burden  to  me,  that  I  am  weary  of  bearing.  15  Yea,  when 
ye  spread  forth  your  palms,  I  hide  my  eyes  from  you ; 
and  although  ye  multiply  prayers,  I  do  not  listen. 

b.  (i)  Your  hands  are  full  of  blood  ;  16  wash,  cleanse, 
yourselves.  Away  with  your  evil  deeds  from  before  my 
eyes.  Cease  to  do  evil;  17 learn  to  do  well.  Seek  jus- 
tice; correct  the  oppressor;  judge  the  orphan;  defend 
the  widow. 

*  Text :   strangers  are.  \  Text :   appear. 


62  ISAIAH.  [I.  18-29 

(2)  18Come  now,  let  us  come  to  an  understanding, 
saith  Jehovah :  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they 
shall  become  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red  as 
vermilion,  they  shall  become  like  wool.  19If  ye  be 
willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  best  of  the 
land;  2"but  if  ye  be  wilful  and  rebellious,  ye  shall 
taste*  —  the  sword;  for  the  mouth  of  Jehovah  hath 
spoken. 

3.  a.  21  How  hath  the  faithful  town  become  a  harlot ! 
the  once  full  of  justice,  where  righteousness  dwelt,  but 
now  — -  murderers  !  ^  Thy  silver  hath  become  dross  ;  thy 
drink  is  diluted  with  water.  23Thy  princes  are  unprin- 
cipled, partners  of  thieves.  They  all  love  a  bribe,  and 
chase  after  fees.  The  orphan  they  judge  not ;  and  as 
for  the  cause  of  the  widow,  it  doth  not  reach  them. 

b.  M  Therefore  saith  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the 
Champion  of  Israel:  Ha!  I  will  have  satisfaction  of  my 
adversaries ;  and  I  will  take  vengeance  upon  my  ene- 
mies. 25  Yea,  I  will  turn  my  hand  against  thee,  smelt- 
ing out  in  the  furnace  f  thy  dross,  and  removing  all  thy 
lead.  26Then  will  I  restore  thee  judges  as  at  first,  and 
counsellors  as  in  the  beginning.  Thereafter  shalt  thou 
be  called  the  righteous  city,  a  faithful  town.  2"  Zion  shall 
be  redeemed  by  justice,  and  they  that  dwell  %  therein 
through  righteousness;  28but  a  common  destruction 
shall  overtake  revolters  and  sinners ;  yea,  they  that  for- 
sake Jehovah  shall  perish.  29  For  ye  §  shall  be  ashamed 
of  the  oaks  in  which  ye  have  delighted,  and  confounded 
by  the  gardens  in  which  ye  have  found  pleasure;  30for 
ye  shall  be  like  a  terebinth  with  withered  foliage,  or  a 

*  Text :   be  devoured  by.         t  Text :  thoroughly,  or  as  -with  a  flux. 
%  Text :   return.  §  Text :  they. 


I.  29-11.  8]  TRANSLATION.  63 

garden  that  hath  no  water.  31  Yea,  the  strong  shall  be 
tow,  and  his  work  a  spark  ;  and  they  shall  both  burn 
together,  with  none  to  quench  them. 


ii:1  The  tilings  that  Isaiah,  son  of  Amos,  beheld  concern- 
ing Judah  and  Jerusalem. 

1.  a.  (i)  2Aud  it  shall  come  to  pass  finally,  that  the 
mountain  *  of  Jehovah  shall  be  established  at  the  head  of 
the  mountains,  and  the  *  house  *  \_of  our  God~\  shall  uplift 
itself  above  the  hills.  Then  shall  all  the  nations  stream 
to  it ;  3yea,  many  peoples  shall  go  and  say  :  Come  and  let 
us  go  tip  to  the  mountain  of  Jehovah  ;  to  the  house  of  the 
God  of  Jacob  ;  that  he  may  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  that 
we  may  walk  in  his  paths:  for  from  Zion  goeth  forth 
instruction,  and  the  word  of  Jehovah  from  Jerusalem. 
4  Then  shall  he  judge  betivcen  the  nations,  and  decide  for 
many  peoples  ;  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  mat- 
tocks, and  their  spears  into  pruning-knives :  one  nation 
shall  710 1  take  the  sword  against  another,  nor  shall  they 
learn  war  any  more. 

(2)  (a)  a.  5  O  house  of  Jacob,  come  and  let  us  zualk 
in  the  light  of  Jehovah  !  6  But  thou  hast  cast  off  thy 
people,  the  house  of  Jacob ;  because  they  were  full  of 
diviners  f  and  augurers  like  the  Philistines ;  and  with 
children  of  strangers  they  abounded.  7  Their  land,  also, 
is  full  of  silver  and  gold,  and  there  is  no  end  to  their 
treasures ;  their  land  is  full  of  horses,  also,  and  there  is 
no  end  to  their  chariots  ;  8  nay,  their  land  is  full  of  idols  ; 
the  work  of  their  hands,  that  which  their  own  fingers 

*  Text:  mountain  of  the  house.  t  Text :  the  East. 


64  ISAIAH.  [II.  8-III.  2 

have  made,  they  worship.  9  Therefore  shall  man  be 
humbled,  and  mankind  abased ;  nor  show  them  favor ! 
10 Go  into  the  rock,  and  hide  thyself  in  the  ground,  from 
the  dreadful  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  from  the  splendor 
of  his  majesty.  u  The  lofty  eyes  of  man  shall  be  abased, 
and  the  haughtiness  of  men  humbled ;  and  Jehovah 
alone  shall  be  exalted  in  that  day. 

/3.  12For  Jehovah  of  Hosts  hath  a  day  for  every 
thing  that  is  high  and  lofty,  and  every  thing  that  tow- 
ers ;  when  it  shall  be  abased  :  13even  for  all  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon,  lofty  and  towering,  and  all  the  oaks  of 
Bashan ;  14and  for  all  the  lofty  mountains,  and  all  the 
towering  hills ;  15  and  for  every  high  tower,  and  every 
strong  wall ;  16  and  for  all  the  ships  of  Tarshish,  and  all 
the  delightful  figures.  I7  Yea,  the  loftiness  of  man  shall 
be  humbled,  and  the  haughtiness  of  men  abased ;  and 
Jehovah  alone  shall  be  exalted  in  that  day. 

7.  18The  idols,  also,  shall  all  fail;  19and  men  shall  go 
into  caves  in  the  rocks,  and  into  holes  in  the  ground, 
from  the  dreadful  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  from  the 
splendor  of  his  majesty,  when  he  ariseth  to  terrify  the 
earth  ;  20  in  that  day  shall  a  man  cast  his  idols  of  silver 
and  his  idols  of  gold,  which  he  hath  made  for  himself  to 
zvorship,  to  the  moles  and  the  bats  ;  21  to  go  into  the  rents 
of  the  rocks,  and  into  the  clefts  of  the  cliffs,  from  the 
dreadful  presence  of  Jehovah,  and  from  the  splendor  of 
his  majesty,  when  he  ariseth  to  terrify  the  earth. 

(/;)  a.  22  Trust  no  longer  in  man  that  breatheth,  for 
what  is  he  to  be  accounted?  ai- 1  For  lo,  the  Lord, 
Jehovah  of  Hosts,  will  remove  from  Jerusalem,  and  from 
Judah,  every  staff  :  the  whole  staff  of  bread,  and  the  whole 
staff  of  water ;  2hero  and  soldier;  judge,  and  prophet, 


III.  2-i5]  TRANSLATION.  65 

and  diviner,  and  elder;  3 captain,  and  favorite,  and  coun- 
sellor, and  magician,  and  conjurer.  4And  I  will  give 
them  boys  for  princes,  and  they  shall  be  the  sport  of 
their  rulers.  5  And  the  people  shall  be  harassed,  one  by 
another,  yea,  each  by  his  neighbor :  they  shall  assail, 
the  boy  the  elder,  and  the  base  the  honorable.  6When 
one  layeth  hold  of  another,  in  the  house  of  his  father, 
[saying]  :  Thou  hast  a  mantle ;  be  a  ruler  for  us !  and 
let  this  ruin  be  under  thy  control !  7  in  that  day  shall  he 
cry,  saying:  I  will  not  be  a  surgeon;  for  in  my  house  is 
neither  bread  nor  mantle.  Ye  shall  not  make  me  a 
ruler  of  the  people. 

/3.  8  For  Jerusalem  shall  totter,  and  Judah  fall ;  be- 
cause with  their  tongues  and  their  deeds  they  are  against 
Jehovah,  rebelling  to  his  glorious  face.  9The  look  on 
their  faces  testifieth  against  them ;  and  their  sin,  like 
the  Sodomites,  they  publish,  they  hide  it  not.  Alas 
for  themselves !  for  they  shall  do  themselves  injury. 
lQ  Blessed  *  is  the  righteous  !  for  it  shall  be  well  with  him  ; 
for  the  fruit  of  Ids  deeds  shall  he  eat.  n  Woe  to  the  god- 
less !  it  shall  be  ill  with  him :  for  what  his  hands  have 
wrought  shall  be  repaid  him.  12  As  for  my  people,  their 
masters  are  children ;  yea,  women  rule  over  them.  O 
my  people !  your  leaders  are  seducers,  and  the  way  in 
which  ye  should  walk  they  efface.  13  Jehovah  is  arisen 
to  defend,  and  standeth  to  avenge,  his  f  people,  f  14  Je- 
hovah will  enter  into  a  contest  with  the  elders  of  his 
people  and  their  princes  :  And  ye  have  cropped  the 
vineyard ;  the  spoil  of  the  afflicted  is  in  your  houses. 
15  Wherefore  crush  ye  my  people,  and  bruise  the  faces 
of  the  afflicted  ?  saith  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts. 

*  Text :  Say.  f  Text :  peoples. 


66  ISAIAH.  [III.  16-IV.  5 

7.  1G  And  Jehovah  said :  Because  the  daughters  of 
Zion  are  haughty,  and  go  with  stretched  necks  and  blink- 
ing eyes,  go  trippingly  and  jingle  with  their  feet :  17  there- 
fore will  the  Lord  bring  baldness  upon  the  crowns  of  the 
daughters  of  Zion ;  yea,  Jehovah  will  lay  their  temples 
bare.  18  In  that  day  will  the  Lord  remove  the  beautiful 
anklets,  and  snulets,  and  moojilets  ;  19  ear-drops,  and  brace- 
lets, and  veils  ;  20  head-dresses,  and  step-chains,  and  sashes, 
and  smelling-bottles,  and  amulets  ;  "^finger-rings  and  nose- 
rings ;  ^ gala-robes,  and  stoics,  and  shawls,  and  purses  ; 
23 ;;/  irrors,  and  shirts,  and  turbans,  and  mantles.  ^  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  instead  of  perfume  there  shall 
be  putridity  ;  and  instead  of  a  girdle,  a  rope  ;  and  instead 
of  hair-work,  baldness ;  and  instead  of  a  mantle,  a  strip 
of  hair-cloth  ;  a  brand  in  the  place  of  beauty.  25  Thy  men 
shall  fall  by  the  sword ;  even  thy  mighty  in  war.  26  And 
her  doors  shall  sigh  and  mourn  ;  yea,  she  shall  sit  on  the 
ground  despoiled.  iv- *  And  seven  women  shall  lay  hold 
of  one  man  in  that  day,  saying  :  We  will  eat  our  own 
bread,  and  wear  our  own  raiment ;  only  let  us  be  called 
by  thy  name  !  take  away  our  reproach  ! 

(3)  2In  that  day  shall  the  growth  of  Jehovah  be 
goodly  and  famous,  and  the  fruit  of  the  land  glorious 
and  beautiful,  to  the  survivors  in  Israel.  3  For  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  he  that  is  left  in  Zion,  even  he  that  is 
spared  in  Jerusalem,  shall  be  called  holy :  every  one 
that  is  enrolled  to  live  in  Jerusalem ;  4  when  Jehovah 
hath  cleansed  away  the  filth  of  Zion  *  the  *  fair,*  and 
purged  the  blood  of  Jerusalem  from  her  midst,  with  a 
blast  of  judgment,  even  a  blast  of  destruction.  5  Then 
will  Jehovah  create  over  the  ivliole  site  of  Mount  Zion, 

*  Text :  the  daughters  of  Zion. 


IV.  5-V.  10]  TRANSLATION.  67 

and  over  her  festivals,  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day,  and  the 
gloiv  of  flaming  fire  by  night ;  yea,  over  the  whole  shall 
there  be  a  glorious  canopy  6  and  pavilion,  a  shelter  {by 
day)  from  the  heat,  and  a  refuge  and  covert  from  the 
storm  and  the  rain. 

b.  (i)  v- 1  Let  me  sing  of  my  friend,  —  a  song  of  my 
friend  concerning  his  vineyard.  A  vineyard  had  my 
friend  on  a  fertile  hill.  2  This  he  digged  and  cleared  of 
stones ;  then  he  planted  it  with  choice  vines,  and  built 
a  tower  in  the  midst  of  it ;  a  wine-press,  also,  he  hewed 
out  therein.  Then  he  expected  it  to  yield  grapes ;  but 
it  yielded  wild  ones.  3  Now,  therefore,  O  dwellers  in 
Jerusalem,  and  men  of  Judah !  judge,  I  pray  you,  be- 
tween me  and  my  vineyard.  4  What  was  there  yet  to 
be  done  to  my  vineyard  that  I  did  not  therein  ?  Why, 
then,  when  I  expected  it  to  yield  grapes,  did  it  yield 
wild  ones  ?  5  But  now  let  me  tell  you  what  I  shall  do 
to  my  vineyard :  take  away  its  hedge,  that  it  may  be 
cropped ;  tear  down  its  wall,  that  it  may  be  trampled. 

6  Yea,  I  will  put  an  end  to  it :  it  shall  neither  be  pruned 
nor  tilled ;  but  thorns  and  briers  shall  grow  therein ;  I 
will  also  charge  the  clouds  that  they  rain  not  upon  it. 

7  But  the  vineyard  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts  is  the  house  of 
Israel,  and  the  men  of  Judah  his  delightful  plantation ; 
and  when  he  expected  redress,  lo  —  distress!  and  when 
restraint,  lo  —  complaint ! 

(2)  (a)  a.  8  Woe  to  you  that  join  house  to  house,  and 
add  field  to  field,  until  there  is  no  more  room,  and  ye 
are  left  to  dwell  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  land !  9  In 
my  ears  [hath]  Jehovah  of  Hosts  [revealed  himself], 
saying :  Surely  many  houses  shall  be  empty,  great  ones 
and  goodly  without  a  tenant.     10  For  ten  yokes  of  vine- 


68  ISAIAH.  [V.  10-23 

yard  shall  yield  but  one  bath,  and  a  homer  of  seed  pro- 
duce but  an  ephah. 

/3.  u  Woe  to  them  that  rise  early  in  the  morning,  to 
pursue  —  drink ;  and  tarry  in  the  evening  until  wine  in- 
flame them :  12  that  have  the  lute,  and  the  psaltery,  and 
the  tabret,  and  the  flute,  with  wine,  in  their  feasts ;  but 
regard  not  the  work  of  Jehovah,  nor  perceive  what  his 
hands  are  doing.  13  Therefore  shall  my  people  go  into 
captivity  unawares :  yea,  their  rich  shall  be  pinched 
with  hunger,  even  their  wealthy  parched  *  with  *  thirst. 
14  Therefore  shall  Sheol  distend  her  maw,  and  open  her 
mouth  without  limit ;  and  down  shall  go  the  showy  and 
wealthy  and  noisy  revellers  among  them.  15  Then  shall 
man  be  humbled,  and  mankind  abased ;  yea,  the  eyes  of 
the  haughty  shall  be  abased ;  1G  but  Jehovah  of  Hosts 
shall  be  exalted  injustice,  and  the  holy  God  sanctified  by 
righteousness.  17  Then  shall  lambs  graze  as  in  their  past- 
ure, and  on  deserted  lands  shall  f  fatlings,f  lanibs,^  feed. 

7.  18Woe  to  them  that  drag  guilt  [upon  them]  with 
cords  of  folly,  and  punishment  as  with  a  cart-rope ! 
19  who  say  :  Let  come  quickly,  speedily,  what  he  would 
do,  that  we  may  see  it;  and  let  what  the  Holy  One  pur- 
poseth  draw  nigh  and  happen,  that  we  may  know  it ! 

8.  20  Woe  to  them  that  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil ! 
—  that  put  darkness  for  light,  and  light  for  darkness! 
that  put  bitter  for  sweet,  and  sweet  for  bitter ! 

e.  21  Woe  to  them  that  are  wise  in  their  own  eyes,  and 
in  their  own  sight  prudent ! 

£.  ffi  Woe  to  them  that  are  heroes  —  in  drinking  wine, 
and  men  of  prowess  —  in  mixing  drink !  23  that  acquit 
the  guilty  for  a  bribe,  while  the  innocent  they  rob  of  his 

*  Text :  men  of.  \  Text :  of  failings  shall  sojourners. 


V.  23-VI.  3]  TRANSLA  TION.  69 

innocence !  24  Therefore  as  the  fire's  tongue  lappeth 
stubble,  and  hay  sinketh  in  the  flame,  so  shall  their  root 
become  rotten,  and  their  blossom  rise  like  dust :  because 
they  have  rejected  the  teaching  of  Jehovah,  and  despised 
the  word  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 

(b)  25  Therefore  was  the  anger  of  Jehovah  kindled 
against  his  people,  and  his  hand  outstretched  against 
them ;  and  he  smote  them,  that  the  mountains  trembled, 
and  their  corpses  were  as  refuse  in  the  midst  of  the 
streets.  For  all  this  his  anger  turned  not,  but  his  hand 
was  outstretched  still.  26  But  he  will  hoist  a  signal  to 
a  *  nation  *  from  afar,  and  shrill  to  one  from  the  end  of 
the  earth ;  and  lo,  they  come  quickly,  swiftly !  2"  there 
is  none  that  fainteth  or  falleth  among  them;  they  neither 
slumber  nor  sleep ;  the  girdles  of  their  loins  are  not 
loosed,  nor  are  the  strings  of  their  shoes  broken ;  28  their 
arrows  are  sharpened,  and  all  their  bows  bent;  the  hoofs 
of  their  horses  are  counted  as  flint,  and  their  wheels 
as  the  whirlwind ;  29  they  have  a  roar  like  the  lion's, 
they  roar  like  young  lions ;  and  when  they  growl  and 
lay  hold  of  prey,  they  carry  it  off,  and  there  is  none 
to  deliver.  30  And  they  shall  growl  over  it  in  that  day 
like  the  roaring  of  tJie  sea  ;  and,  if  one  look  tozvard 
the  land  there  shall  be  darkness  {of  distress),  yea,  the 
light  shall  be  obscured  by  its  clouds. 

c.  (1)  vilInthe  year  that  King  Uzziah  died  I  saw 
the  Lord  sitting  on  a  throne  lofty  and  exalted,  while 
his  train  filled  the  temple.  2  Seraphs  hovered  about 
him,  each  with  six  wings :  with  two  he  covered  his  face, 
with  two  he  covered  his  feet,  and  with  two  he  flew. 
3  And  one  cried  to  another  and  said,  Holy,  holy,  holy  is 

*  Text :  the  nations. 


■70  ISAIAH.  [VI.  3-VII.  i 

Jehovah  of  Hosts !  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory ! 
4  Then  the  foundations  of  the  threshold  quaked  at  the 
sound,  as  each  cried,  while  the  house  was  filled  with 
smoke.  6  And  I  said,  Woe  is  me !  for  I  am  undone ; 
because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  among 
a  people  of  unclean  lips ;  yet  my  eyes  have  seen  the 
King,  Jehovah  of  Hosts.  6  But  there  flew  to  me  one  of 
the  seraphs,  bearing  a  live  coal,  that  he  had  taken  with 
the  tongs  off  the  altar;  7and  he  touched  my  mouth  and 
said,  Lo,  this  hath  touched  thy  lips;  so  shall  thy  guilt 
depart  and  thy  punishment  be  cancelled. 

(2)  8Then  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  saying, 
Whom  shall  I  send  ?  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  and  I 
said,  Here  am  I;  send  me.  9Then  said  he:  Go,  and 
say  to  this  people,  Hear  on,  but  do  not  understand ;  and 
see  on,  but  do  not  perceive.  10  Make  the  hearts  of  this 
people  gross,  and  their  ears  dull,  and  seal  their  eyes ; 
lest  they  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  their  hearts  understand,  and  they  be  healed  again. 
11  But  I  said,  How  long,  O  Lord  ?  and  he  said,  Until 
the  cities,  ruined,  are  without  inhabitant,  and  the  houses 
without  a  man,  and  the  soil  is  left*  a  desert.  12Yea, 
Jehovah  will  remove  man  far  away,  and  great  shall  be 
the  desertion  in  the  midst  of  the  land.  13And  if  there 
be  in  it  yet  a  tithe,  it  also,  in  its  turn,  shall  be  consumed  ; 
like  the  terebinth  and  the  oak,  of  which,  when  they  are 
felled,  there  is  a  stump.     A  holy  seed  is  its  stump. 

2.  a.  (1)  (a)  a.  vii- 2  And  it  came  to  pass,  in  the 
days  of  Ahaz,  son  of  Jotham,  son  of  Uzziah,  king  of 
Judah,  that  Resin,  king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah,  son  of 
Remaliah,  king  of  Israel,  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  war  — 

*  Text :  wasted. 


VII.  1-15]  TRANSLATION.  71 

but  did  not  prevail  in  their  attack  —  against  it.  2And 
it  was  told  the  house  of  David,  saying,  Syria  hath  set- 
tled upon  Ephraim ;  and  their  hearts,  and  the  hearts  of 
their  people,  quaked,  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  shake  in 
the  wind.  3Then  said  Jehovah  to  Isaiah,  Go  forth  to 
meet  Ahaz,  thou  and  Shear-yashub,  thy  son,  at  the  end 
of  the  aqueduct  of  the  Upper  Pool,  in  the  path  to  the 
Fuller's  Field ;  4  and  say  to  him,  Take  heed  to  be  calm  ; 
fear  not,  neither  let  thy  heart  be  timid,  on  account  of 
these  two  smoking  stumps  of  firebrands,  —  at  the  glow- 
ing anger  of  Resin  and  Syria,  and  of  the  son  of  Rema- 
liah.  5  Because  Syria  hath  planned  evil  against  thee, 
Ephraim  [also],  and  the  son  of  Remaliah,  saying,  6  Let 
us  go  up  against  Judah,  and  terrify  it,  and  overpower  it, 
and  enthrone  as  king  in  its  midst  the  son  of  Tabeel ; 
7  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Jehovah  :  It  shall  not  take  place  nor 
come  to  pass;  8for  the  head  of  Syria  is  Damascus,  and 
the  head  of  Damascus,  Resin  ;  and  within  sixty  and  five 
years  shattered  Ephraim  shall  cease  to  be  a  people  ;  9  and 
the  head  of  Ephraim  is  Samaria,  and  the  head  of  Sa- 
maria, the  son  of  Remaliah.  If  ye  do  not  confide, 
verily,  ye  shall  not  abide. 

/3.  10  Then  spake  Jehovah  further  unto  Ahaz,  saying, 
11  Ask  thee  a  sign  from  Jehovah,  thy  God;  going  deep 
as  Sheol,  or  into  the  heights  above.  12  But  Ahaz  said  : 
I  will  not  ask  one ;  nor  will  I  prove  Jehovah.  13  Then 
said  he,  Hear,  O  house  of  David !  Is  it  too  little  for 
you  to  weary  men,  that  ye  must  also  weary  my  God  ? 
14  Therefore  will  the  Lord  himself  give  you  a  sign :  Lo, 
the  young  woman  that  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son, 
and  call  his  name  Immanu-el,  — 15  curds  and  honey  shall 
he  eat  when  he  hath  learned  to  reject  the  bad   and 


72  ISAIAH.  [VII.  15-VIII.  2 

prefer  the  good ;  16  for,  before  the  lad  hath  learned  to 
reject  the  bad  and  prefer  the  good,  the  soil  whose  two 
kings  thou  dreadest  shall  be  forsaken  ;  17  [but]  Jehovah 
will  bring  upon  thee,  and  upon  thy  people,  and  upon 
thy  father's  house,  days  such  as  have  not  come  since 
Ephraim  separated  from  Judah,  the  king  of  Assyria. 

7.  18  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  Jeho- 
vah will  shrill  to  the  fly  that  is  at  the  end  of  the  rivers 
of  Egypt,  and  the  bee  that  is  in  the  land  of  Assyria ; 
19  and  they  shall  come  and  settle,  all  of  them,  in  the 
yawning  water-courses,  and  in  the  clefts  of  the  cliffs, 
and  in  all  the  thorn-trees,  and  in  all  the  pastures.  20  In 
that  day  will  the  Lord  shave,  with  the  razor  hired  be- 
yond the  River,  with  the  king  of  Assyria,  the  hair  from 
both  head  and  trunk;  yea,  even  the  beard  shall  it  re- 
move. 21  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that,  if 
a  man  keep  a  heifer  and  two  sheep,  22  from  the  abun- 
dance of  the  milk  produced  he  shall  eat  curds ;  for 
curds  and  honey  shall  every  one  eat  that  is  left  in  the 
land.  23And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that 
every  place,  where  there  are  a  thousand  vines  worth  a 
thousand  pieces  of  silver,  shall  be  left  to  thorns  and 
briers.  24  With  the  bow  and  arrows  shall  one  go  thither; 
for  the  whole  land  shall  become  thorns  and  briers :  25  all 
the  hills,  also,  that  are  digged  with  the  mattock,  whither 
the  fear  of  thorns  and  briers  cometh  not ;  and  they  shall 
be  a  range  for  oxen,  and  a  place  for  sheep  to  trample. 

(b)  a.  viii- l  Then  said  Jehovah  to  me,  Take  thee  a 
large  tablet,  and  write  thereon  in  plain  script,  To  Swift 
booty,  speedy  prey;  2and  summon*  me  trusty  witnesses, 
—  Uriah  the  priest,  and  Zechariah,  son  of  Jeberekiah. 

*  Text :  /  will  summon. 


VIII.  3-iS]  TRANSLATION.  73 

3  And  I  drew  near  to  the  prophetess,  and  she  conceived 
and  bore  a  son.  And  Jehovah  said  to  me,  Call  his 
name  Maher-shalal-hash-baz  ;  *  4  for,  before  the  lad  hath 
learned  to  cry,  Father,  and  Mother,  the  wealth  of  Da- 
mascus and  the  booty  of  Samaria  shall  be  borne  off 
before  the  king  of  Assyria. 

/3.  5Then  spake  Jehovah  to  me  further,  saying,  6  Be- 
cause this  people  despise  the  water  of  Shilloah,  that 
floweth  softly,  and  despair  on  account  of  Resin  and 
the  son  of  Remaliah ;  7  therefore,  lo,  the  Lord  will 
bring  up  against  them  the  water  of  the  River,  mighty 
and  abundant,  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  all  his  glory ; 
and  it  shall  wholly  outgrow  its  channels,  and  overflow 
all  its  banks;  8it  shall  also  invade  Judah,  flood  and 
overwhelm  it,  until  it  reacheth  to  the  neck ;  yea,  the 
stretch  of  its  flanks  shall  fill  the  breadth  of  thy  land, 
O  Immanu-el ! 

(2)  (a)  9 Attend, f  O  peoples!  but  to  be  confounded  ; 
and  give  ear,  O  all  the  ends  of  the  earth !  Gird  your- 
selves, but  to  be  confounded!  gird  yourselves,  but  to  be 
confounded !  10  Plan  a  scheme,  that  it  may  be  shattered  ! 
speak  a  thing,  that  it  may  not  take  place!  for  God  is 
with  us.  n  For  thus  spake  Jehovah  to  me  with  mighty 
power,  to  warn  me  not  to  go  in  the  way  of  this  people, 
saving,  12  Say  ye  not,  A  plot !  whenever  this  people  say, 
A  plot !  and  fear  not  what  they  fear,  neither  be  terrified. 
13  Of  %  Jehovah  of  Hosts  shall  ye  beware  ;  J  and  he  shall 
be  the  object  of  your  fear  and  your  terror;  14but  he 
shall  be  a  sanctuary,  and  a  stone  to  trip  on,  and  a  rock 
to  stumble  over,  for  fidtli  houses  of  Israel ;  a  snare  and 
a  springe  for  the  dweller  in  Jerusalem  :  15  so  that  many 

*  Swift-booty-speedy-prey.         f  Text :  Rage.         J  Text :  sanctify. 


74  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  15-IX.  3 

shall  thereby  stumble;  yea,  they  shall  fall  and  be  broken, 
and  be  snared  and  taken. 

(b)  16 1  will  roll  up  the  testimony,  seal  the  teaching, 
among  my  disciples  ;  17  and  I  will  wait  for  Jehovah,  who 
hideth  his  face  from  the  house  of  Jacob  ;  yea,  I  will  look 
for  him.  18  Lo,  I  and  the  children  that  Jehovah  hath 
given  me  are  signs  and  tokens  in  Israel  from  Jehovah 
of  Hosts,  who  dwelleth  in  Mount  Zion.  19When,  there- 
fore, they  say  to  you,  Inquire  of  the  necromancers  and 
the  soothsayers,  that  chirp  and  mutter :  should  not  a 
people  inquire  of  their  God  ?  for  the  living  [should  one 
inquire]  of  the  dead  ?  20  To  the  teaching  and  the  testi- 
mony !  surely  they  tell  of  the  like  of  this  state,  to  which 
there  is  no  dawn.  21And  they  shall  pass  through  it 
downcast  and  hungry ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
when  they  are  hungry,  they  shall  become  enraged  and 
curse  their  king  and  their  God  ;  and  whether  they  turn 
upward  ^or  look  earthward,  lo,  trouble  and  darkness, 
the  darkness  of  oppression,  * 23  yea,  a  gloom  without  f 
brightness,  f  For  is  not  the  land  darkened  that  is  op- 
pressed ?  The  first  time  he  dealt  gently  in  the  land  of 
Zebnlon  and  the  land  of  Naphtali  ;  but  the  last,  he  dealt 
severely  in  the  region  of  the  Sea,  beyond  the  Jordan,  the 
District  of  the  nations. 

(e)  ix-  ^he  people  that  walk  in  darkness  shall  see  a 
great  light;  on  them  that  dwell  in  a  gloomy  land  a 
brightness  shall  burst.  2  Thou  wilt  cause  $  abundant  J 
exultation  ;  |  thou  wilt  create  exceeding  joy  :  men  shall 
rejoice  before  thee  as  they  rejoice  in  harvest,  as  they 
exult  when  they  divide  booty.      3  For   the   yoke   that 

*  ix.  I  in  the  English  version.  f  Text :   dispersed. 

J  Text :   make  great  the  nation  ;  to  it. 


IX.  3-15]  TRANSLAT10X.  75 

burdeneth  them,  and  the  staff  on  their  shoulders,  the 
rod  of  their  taskmaster,  thou  wilt  break,  as  in  the  day 
of  Midian.  4  Yea,  every  boot  tramping  noisily,  and  the 
cloak  dragged  in  blood,  shall  be  burned,  be  fuel  for  the 
fire.  5  For  a  child  shall  be  born  to  us,  a  son  shall  be 
given  to  us ;  and  the  sovereignty  shall  be  on  his 
shoulder;  and  they  shall  call  his  name  Wondrous-coun- 
sellor, Mighty-lord,  Booty-taker,  Prince-of-peace ;  6for 
the  enlargement  of  the  sovereignty  and  for  endless 
peace,  on  the  throne  of  David  and  over  his  kingdom, 
establishing  and  strengthening  it  by  justice  and  righteous- 
ness henceforth  forever.  The  jealousy  of  Jehovah  of 
Hosts  will  perform  this. 

b.  ( i )  (a)  "'  A  decree  sendeth  the  Lord  among  Jacob, 
and  it  shall  fall  among  Israel ;  8  and  the  people,  all  of 
them,  shall  take  knowledge,  Ephraim  and  the  dweller 
in  Samaria  ;  [who  spake]  in  pride  and  arrogance,  saying, 
9  Bricks  are  fallen,  but  we  will  rebuild  with  hewn  stone; 
sycamores  are  hewn  in  pieces,  but  we  will  replace  them 
with  cedars.  10 Therefore  Jehovah  upheld  their*  adver- 
saries *  against  them,  and  their  enemies  he  aroused ; 
11  Syria  from  the  east,  and  the  Philistines  from  the  west; 
and  they  devoured  Israel  with  open  mouth.  For  all 
this  his  anger  turned  not,  but  his  hand  was  outstretched 
still. 

(b)  12  Yet  the  people  returned  not  to  him  that  smote 
them,  and  Jehovah  of  Hosts  they  sought  not;  13and 
Jehovah  cut  off  from  Israel  head  and  tail,  palm-tip  and 
rush,  in  a  day.  14  The  elder  and  the  favorite  are  the 
head,  and  the  prophet  that  teacheth  falsehood  is  the  tail. 
15  The  guides,  also,  of  this  people  became  seducers,  and 

*  Text:   the  adversaries  of  I\esi?i. 


76  ISAIAH.  [IX.  15-X.  6 

their  followers  were  destroyed.  16  Therefore  the  Lord 
spared  not  their  youths,  neither  had  he  pity  on  their 
orphans  and  widows ;  for  they  were  all  faithless  and 
wicked,  and  every  mouth  spake  folly.  For  all  this  his 
anger  turned  not,  but  his  hand  was  outstretched  still. 

(c)  1T  For  godlessness  burned  like  a  fire,  devouring 
thorns  and  briers,  and  kindling  the  thickets  of  the  for- 
est ;  so  that  they  went  up  in  a  column  of  smoke.  18  In 
the  fury  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts  the  land  was  consumed, 
and  the  people  became,  as  it  were,  fuel  for  the  fire.  No 
one  spared  his  brother;  19and  they  cut  to  the  right  and 
remained  hungry,  and  ate  to  the  left  without  being  sat- 
isfied ;  they  ate,  every  one  the  flesh  of  his  fellow :  * 
Z0Manasseh  Ephraim,  and  Ephraim  Manasseh;  to- 
gether they  were  against  Judah.  For  all  this  his 
anger  turned  not,  but  his  hand  was  outstretched  still. 

(d)  *• 1  Woe  to  them  that  record  iniquitous  decrees, 
and  the  writers  that  engross  trouble;  2 turning  the  lowly 
from  judgment,  and  robbing  the  afflicted  among  my 
people  of  justice;  so  that  widows  are  their  prey,  and 
orphans  their  plunder!  3What,  then,  will  ye  do  against 
the  day  of  retribution,  and  of  destruction  that  cometh 
from  afar  ?  To  whom  will  ye  flee  for  help  ?  and  where 
will  ye  bestow  yourselves  ?  4  Whoso  sinketh  not  under 
prisoners  shall  fall  beneath  the  slain.  For  all  this  his 
auger  turned  not,  but  his  hand  was  outstretched  still. 

(2)  (a)  5Woe  to  Assyria,  the  rod  of  my  anger,  and  a 
staff  in  the  f  day  f  of  |  my  vengeance.  6  Against  a  faith- 
less nation  I  sent  him,  and  against  the  people  of  my 
fury  I  commissioned  him ;  to  take  booty,  and  to  get 
plunder,  and  to  trample  them  like  the  mire  of  the  streets. 

*  Text :  arm.  t  Text :  their  hand. 


X.  7-17]  TRANSLATION.  77 

7  But  he  himself  was  not  so  minded,  nor  did  his  heart  so 
purpose ;  nay,  rather,  it  was  in  his  heart  to  destroy,  and 
to  cut  off  nations  not  a  few.  8For  he  said,  Are  not  my 
princes  all  kings?  9Is  not  Kalno  as  Karkemish  ?  is  not 
Hamath  as  Arpad  ?  and  is  not  Samaria  as  Damascus  ? 
10  As  my  hands  have  seized  these  kingdoms,  which  had 
statues  above  those  of  Jerusalem  and  Samaria, — uas  I 
have  done  to  Samaria  and  its  idols,  shall  I  not  do  to  Jou- 
salem  and  its  images  ? 

(b)  nBut  it  shall  come  to  pass,  ivJien  the  Lord  shall 
have  finished  his  whole  work  in  Mount  Zion  and  in 
Jerusalem,  that  he  *  will  pnnish  the  vaunt  of  the  arro- 
gance of  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  the  display  of  his 
haughtiness;  K because  he  hath  said,  With  the  strength 
of  my  own  hand  have  I  wrought,  and  in  my  own  wisdom, 
for  I  am  prudent ;  and  I  have  removed  the  boundaries  of 
the  peoples,  and  their  treasures  I  have  plundered.  I 
also  have  brought  down  [to  the  earth  cities  and]  de- 
stroyed f  their  f  inhabitants  f  ;  14yea,  my  hand  hath 
reached,  like  a  nest,  the  wealth  of  the  peoples ;  and  as 
one  gathereth  deserted  eggs,  have  I  gathered  the  whole 
earth ;  nor  was  there  one  that  fluttered  a  wing,  or 
opened  his  mouth  and  peeped.  15  Doth  the  axe  vaunt 
itself  over  him  that  heweth  therewith  ?  or  the  saw  mag- 
nify itself  above  him  that  wieldeth  it  ?  —  a  rod,  as  it 
were,  brandishing  him  that  uplifteth  it !  or  a  staff  up- 
lifting that  which  is  not  wood  !  16  Therefore  will  the 
Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  send  into  his  fat  a  consump- 
tion;  also  under  his  glory  shall  be  kindled  a  burning  like 
the  burning  of  fire :  ll yea,  the  Light  of  Israel  zvill  be  a 
fire,  and  their  Holy  One  a  flame  ;  and  it  shall  bum  and 

*  Text :   /.  f  Text :   as  a  bull  the  enthroned. 


78  ISAIAH.  [X.  17-30 

devour  his  thorns  and  his  briers  in  a  day  ;  1S  also  the 
glory  of  his  forest  and  orchard.  Soul  and  body  shall  it 
destroy,  and  it  shall  be  as  when  a  sick  man  wasteth. 
19  And  the  remaining  trees  of  his  forest  shall  be  so  few 
that  a  boy  can  write  them. 

(c)  2°  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
remnant  of  Israel,  and  they  that  escape  of  the  house  of 
Jacob,  shall  no  longer  lean  upon  their  smiter,  but  shall 
lean  upon  Jehovah,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  faithfully. 
21 A  remnant  shall  return, — a  remnant  of  Jacob,  —  to 
Mighty-lord.  ^  Surely,  if  thy  people,  O  Israel,  are  to 
be  as  the  sand  of  the  Sea,  a  remnant  thereof  shall  return. 
Destruction  is  decreed,  onrusliing  is  rigJiteousncss  ;  ^for 
destruction,  already  ordained,  will  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of 
Hosts,  work  in  the  midst  of  the  whole  earth.  ^  There- 
fore, thus  saith  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  Fear  not,  O 
my  people,  that  divcll  in  Zion!  Assyria;  though  with 
the  rod  he  smite  you,  and  his  staff  lie  uplift  after  the 
manner  of  Egypt ;  ^for  in  yet  a  brief  i?ioment  my  ven- 
geance shall  be  completed,  and  my  anger  shall*  accom- 
plish *  his  *  ruin.  26  And  Jehovah  of  Hosts  will  brandish 
over  him  a  scourge,  as  when  Midian  were  smitten  at  the 
rock  Oreb  ;  and  his  staff  over  the  sea  will  he  uplift  after 
the  manner  of  Egypt.  2"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
that  day,  that  his  burden  shall  be  removed  from  your 
shoulders,  and  his  yoke  be  broken  off  your  necks. 

(d)  He  f  hath  f  come  f  up  f  into  f  Benjamin  f  ;  28  he 
hath  reached  Ayyath  ;  he  hath  passed  Migron  ;  at  Mik- 
mash  he  depositeth  his  baggage;  29they  have  made  the 
passage.  "  Geba  shall  be  our  bivouac."  Ramah  trem- 
bleth ;    Gibea  of  Saul  fleeth.     30  Cry  aloud,  O  daughter 

*  Text :   upon  their.  f  Text :  yoke  on  account  of  fat. 


X.  30-XI.  9]  TRANSLATION.  79 

of  Gallim  !  listen,  Laish  !  Anathoth  fainteth  *  ;  31  M  id- 
menah  wandereth  ;  the  dwellers  in  Gebim  hurry  away 
their  cattle  ;  32  this  very  day  he  will  halt  at  Nob  ;  he  will 
shake  his  hand  against  the  mount  of  Zion  the  fair,  the 
hill  of  Jerusalem.  ^Lo,  the  Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  will 
lop  the  foliage  with  a  crash;  and,  the  lofty  in  stature 
shall  be  felled,  and  the  exalted  shall  come  down:  uyea, 
the  thickets  of  the  forest  shall  be  cut  down  with  the  axe ; 
and  Lebanon  shall  fall  by  a  glorious  One. 

(3)  (a)  a.  xi- 1  Then  shall  there  come  forth  a  shoot 
from  the  stump  of  Jesse,  and  a  sprout  from  his  roots 
shall  bear  fruit ;  2  for  there  shall  rest  on  him  the  spirit 
of  Jehovah,  —  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  insight,  the  spirit 
of  prudence  and  might,  the  spirit  of  the  knowledge  and 
the  fear  of  Jehovah:  3 his  delight,  also,  shall  be  in  the 
fear  of  JcJiovaJi ;  and  he  shall  not  judge  by  the  sight  of 
his  eyes,  nor  decide  from  the  hearing  of  his  ears ;  4  but 
in  righteousness  shall  he  judge  the  lowly,  and  with 
equity  decide  for  the  humble  of  the  land ;  and  he  shall 
smite  the  violent  f  with  the  rod  of  his  mouth,  and  with 
the  breath  of  his  lips  shall  he  slay  the  godless.  5Yea, 
righteousness  shall  be  the  girdle  of  his  loins,  and  faith- 
fulness the  cincture  of  his  reins. 

/3.  6  Then  shall  the  wolf  rest  with  the  lamb,  and  the 
leopard  lie  down  with  the  kid;  and  the  calf  and  the 
young  lion  shall  J  fatten!  together,  with  a  little  boy  to 
lead  them.  7The  cow,  too,  and  the  bear  shall  com- 
pany^ together  shall  their  young  lie  down,  and  the  lion 
shall  cat  straw  like  oxen.  8  Yea,  the  babe  shall  delight 
in  the  eye  of  the  asp,  and  toward  the  viper's  pupil  shall 

*  Text :  afflicted.  t  Text :  land. 

\  Text :  and  falling.  §  Text :  feed. 


SO  ISAIAH.  [XI.  9-XII.  2 

the  child  stretch  its  hand.  9They  shall  not  hurt  nor  de- 
stroy in  all  my  holy  highlands  ;  for  the  land  shall  be  filled 
with  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah,  as  the  waters  cover  the 
Sea.  wAnd  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  to  the 
root  of  Jesse,  that  standeth  as  a  signal  to  the  peoples, 
the  nations  shall  come,  and  his  abode  shall  be  glorious. 

{b)  uAud  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
Lord  will  a  second  time pnt  forth  his  hand  to  redeem  the 
remnant  of  his  people,  that  are  left  from  Assyria,  and 
from  Egypt,  {and  from  Pathros,  and  from  Kitsh,  and  from 
Elani,  and from  Shinar,  and  from  Ilamath,  and  front  the 
countries  on  the  Sea).  n  And  he  will  uplift  a  signal  to 
the  nations,  and  gather  the  outcast  of  Israel,  and  collect 
the  scattered  of  Judah,  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth.  13  Then  shall  the  envy  of  Ephraim  depart,  and 
the  vexers  of  Judah  be  destroyed:  Ephraim  shall  not 
envy  Judah,  nor  shall  Judah  vex  Ephraim  ;  14  but  they 
shall  pounce  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  Philistines  west- 
ward, together  shall  they  plunder  the  sons  of  the  East; 
on  Edom  and  on  Moab  shall  they  lay  hands,  and  the  sons 
of  Amnion  shall  obey  them.  1S 'Jehovah  will  also  dry  * 
tip  *  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  Sea,  and  wave  his  hand 
over  the  River,  with  his  mighty  wind,  and  smite  it  into 
seven  streams,  that  one  can  cross  it  in  sandals.  1QYea, 
there  shall  be  a  highivay  for  the  remnant  of  his  people 
that  are  left  from  Assyria,  as  there  ivas  for  Israel  in  the 
day  when  they  came  up  fro  771  Egypt. 

(c)  a.  xii- 1  And  thou  shalt  say  in  that  day,  I  will  praise 
thee,  O  Jehovah !  for,  though  thou  zvast  angry  with  me, 
now  that  thy  anger  is  turned,  thou  comfortcst  me.  2  Lo, 
the  God  of  my  deliverance  !     I  tvill  trust  and  not  tretn- 

*  Text :  lay  under  ban. 


XII.  2-6,  I.  i]  COMMENTS.  SI 

blc  ;  for  my  strength  and  my  song  was  J  ah  {Jehovah), 
and  he  hath  become  my  deliverance.  3  So  sJiall  ye  with 
gladness  draw  water  from  zuells  of  deliverance. 

ft.  4  And  thou  shalt  say  in  that  day,  Praise  Jehovah, 
call  upon  his  name :  make  known  among  the  peoples  his 
deeds,  {proclaim  that  his  name  is  exalted).  h  Extol  Jeho- 
vah, for  he  hath  wrought  gloriously ;  let  it  be  known  in 
the  -whole  earth.  6  Shout  and  sing,  O  dwellers  in  Zion  ! 
for  great  in  your  midst  is  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 


COMMENTS. 

The  Title  (i.  i). 

The  first  verse  of  the  book  of  Isaiah  introduces  the 
reader  to  a  collection  of  Revelations.  Such  revelations 
were  sometimes  received  by  the  prophets  in  inspired 
dreams  (i  Chr.  xvii.  15),  but  in  the  best  period  of  He- 
brew prophecy  they  were  the  object  of  conscious  in- 
sight (Hab.  ii.  2).*  Those  in  question  are  called  the 
revelations  of  Isaiah,  —  whose  name,  in  Hebrew  Ye- 
shayahu,  means  Jehovah  helped  or  saved  (comp.  Miihlau 
&  Volck) — son  of  Amos,  or,  more  exactly,  Amos.| 
Comp.  EV,  Amoz.     On  the  family  of  Isaiah  see  Intr. 

*  The  Hebrew  original,  being  a  singular  noun,  is  usually  rendered,  vis- 
ion ;  but  it  is  used  in  a  collective  sense,  as  well  as  of  a  single  revelation. 
So  Hos.  xii.  11/10,  where  the  English  version  has  the  plural.  There  is 
therefore  no  reason  why  it  should  not  stand  in  the  title  to  a  longer  book 
than  Obadiah,  or  even  Nahum,  and  that,  too,  if  it  contained  revelations 
of  different  dates.  That  it  is  here  so  used  is  plain  from  the  terms  by  which 
it  is  modified. 

t  pOK;  compare  C18I7,  the  name  of  the  shepherd  of  Tekoa. 


S2  ISAIAH.  [I.  i 

Stud.  I.  The  subject  of  these  revelations  is  Judah  and 
Jerusalem;  i.e.,  Judah,  and  especially  its  capital.  At 
first  sight  this  seems  hardly  large  enough  to  serve  as  a 
subject  for  more  than  the  first  chapter;  but  the  analogy 
of  "  Israel"  in  the  title  to  the  book  of  Amos,  and  the 
fact  that  the  same  words  are  evidently  not  to  be  taken 
strictly  where  they  recur  in  ii.  I,  makes  it  possible,  if 
necessary,  to  interpret  them  as  the  subject  of  all  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah.  The  prophet,  himself,  however, 
probably  did  not  prefix  them  to  his  works.  He  would 
have  said  Jerusalem  and  Judah.  See  iii.  I,  8;  v.  3; 
xxii.  21.  Next  follows  a  temporal  clause,  by  which  the 
application  of  the  preceding  words  is  more  clearly  de- 
fined. The  revelations  of  Isaiah  began  in  the  days  of 
Uzziah,  or  Azariah  (2  Kgs.  xv.  1),  in  whose  last  year  he 
received  his  call  (vi.  1).  For  his  date,  as  well  as  for 
those  of  the  other  kings  mentioned,  see  Intr.  Stud.  II. 
Uzziah  was  followed  by  Jotham,  not  mentioned  else- 
where in  this  book ;  Ahaz,  mentioned  also  vii.  1  ff .  ; 
xiv.  28,  and  xxxviii.  8,  —  whom  his  Assyrian  master  calls 
Iauhazi,  i.e.,  Jehoahaz  (Schrader,  KAT,  257  f.);  and 
finally  by  Hezekiah,  whose  name  does  not  occur  else- 
where except  in  the  appendix,  xxxvi.-xxxix.  The  form 
of  his  name  here  used,  by  the  way,  is  a  later  one  than 
that  found  in  the  chapters  taken  from  the  books  of 
Kings.*  It,  therefore,  like  the  phrase  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem, shows  that  the  title  is  the  work  of  an  editor ; 

*  It  has  four  forms  in  the  Old  Testament:  lTPpffl,  the  usual  one  in  the 
books  of  Kings,  and  the  parallel  chapters  of  Isaiah  ;  ffpTH,  found  only 
2  Kgs.  xviii.  1,  10,  14,  15,  16,  37;  Prv.  xxv.  1  ;  lTPpWf,  the  almost  inva- 
riable form  in  the  books  of  Chronicles,  but  used  only  three  times  (here ; 
2  Kgs.  xx.  10 ;  Jer.  xv.  4)  outside  of  them  ;  and  !TpTrT,  which  occurs 
only  in  the  titles  to  the  books  of  Hosea  and  Micah. 


I.  i,  2]  COMMENTS.  83 

while  the  relative  clause,  as  a  whole,  makes  it  necessary 
to  suppose  that  the  author  of  it  intended  it  to  include 
at  least  the  genuine  portions  of  chapters  i.-xxxix.  Per- 
haps it  originally  belonged  to  them,  and  was  retained, 
in  spite  of  its  increased  inexactness,  when  the  collection 
was  enlarged  to  its  present  dimensions.* 

At  the  beginning  of  the  collection  stands  the  prophecy 
called  by  Ewald  "the  great  arraignment,"  which,  in  view 
of  its  character  and  office,  may  be  entitled 


A.    AN    INTRODUCTORY   SUMMARY  (i.  2-31). 

It  deals  with  three  general  topics,  the  first  of  which 
is 

1.   The  Perversity  of  God's  People  (vv.  2-9). 

This  is  looked  at  from  two  different  standpoints.  In 
the  first  place, 

a.     THE  BASENESS   OF  IT  (vv.  2-4) 

is  set  forth  in  the  strongest  terms. 

2.  The  prophet  invokes  heaven  .  .  .  and  earth,  all 
creation.  It  is  no  ordinary  occasion.  He  is  to  speak, 
but  the  words  that  he  utters  are  not  to  be  his.  He 
speaks  because  Jehovah  himself  hath  spoken.  Comp. 
Deut.  xxxii.  1  ;  Mic.  vi.  1  f. ;  Ps.  1.  4.  In  fact  he  repre- 
sents Jehovah  as  entering  a  complaint  against  his  Chil- 
dren. The  word  is  emphatic  by  position.  The  force  of 
it,  therefore,  is,  that  the  offence  to  be  described  might 
have  been  excused  if  he  had  treated  the  offenders  as 

*  The  theory  that  the  title,  in  a  shorter  form,  originally  belonged  to 
the  first  chapter  (Vitringa)  has  less  to  recommend  it. 


84  ISAIAH.  [I.  2,  3 

servants  or  aliens;  —  but  children!  He  tells  what  he 
has  done  for  them  :  reared  them,  and  brought  them  up  * 
(not  exalted.  See  xxiii.  4 ;  Ezek.  xxxi.  4  ;  comp.  Cheyne) ; 
fulfilled  the  tender  office  of  a  father  toward  them,  they, 
however,  on  their  part,  and  in  contrast  with  him,  have 
revolted  ;  voluntarily  and  ruthlessly  sundered  the  tie  that 
bound  them  to  him. 

3.  This  is  unnatural,  worse  than  brutish ;  for,  An  ox 
knoweth  its  owner  ;  f  manifests  a  certain  attachment  in 
return  for  its  owner's  care;  so,  also,  even  an  ass  (Hos. 
xi.  4;  Jer.  viii.  7); — but  these  children!  And  now  he 
abandons  the  figure  hitherto  employed,  and  says  dis- 
tinctly that  it  is  Israel  who  have  been  guilty  of  the  con- 
duct described.  Israel  must  here  mean  the  Hebrews, 
as  a  people,  including  both  kingdoms.  When,  there- 
fore, Jehovah  says  that  he  has  reared  them,  he  must 
refer  to  their  providentially  nourished  growth  from  a 
single  family  into  the  great  and  honored  nation  over 
which  David  and  Solomon  ruled  (Gen.  xii.  if.;  1  Kgs. 
iv.  21);  and  when  he  adds,  that  they  have  not  under- 
stood, leaving  the  object  to  be  supplied,  it  must  be  their 
wonderful  history  of  which  he  is  thinking  (Hos.  xi.  3)4 
No ;  although  he  has  taken  them  into  so  close  relations 
with  himself,  that  he  could  say  of  them,  as  of  no  other 
people  under  the  sun,  my  people,  he  has  to  lament  that 
they  have  not  considered  the  goodness  thus  manifested 
toward  them.  This  is  the  negative  side  of  Jehovah's 
complaint ;  there  is  a  positive. 

*  For  Tiaam  read  TBMSI.     See  Dri.  §  132. 
t  On  vbca,  see  Ges.  §  124,  I,  c. 

\  Compare  the  Vulgate,  which  supplies  me  ;  and  the  Septuagint,  which 
has  the  pronoun  both  in  this  clause  and  the  one  following. 


I.  4]  COMMENTS.  85 

4.  The  presentation  of  this  side  begins  with  an  Ah  ! 
here,  as  in  v.  24,  an  expression,  not  of  sympathy,  but  of 
serious  displeasure.*  Then  follows  a  description  of 
Israel  in  their  estrangement  from  their  God.  He  calls 
them  an  erring  nation,  a  nation  devoted  to  evil,  in  the 
practice  of  which  they  have  become  laden  f  with  iniq- 
uity, an  accumulation  of  sinful  acts  (Ps.  xxxviii.  4/3). 
They  are  seed  of  evil-doers.  This  is  usually  understood 
in  the  sense  of  brood  of  evil-doers  ;  —  see  "generation  of 
vipers,"  Matt.  iii.  7; —  but  it  is  more  natural,  in  view  of 
what  precedes  and  follows,  to  take  seed  as  meaning  the 
generation  addressed,  and  evil-doers  as  an  epithet  for 
their  wicked  fathers  (Henry).  This  and  the  following 
phrase,  therefore,  taken  together,  might  be  rendered 
evil  sons  of  evil  sires.  Comp.  Orelli.  At  any  rate,  they 
are  no  longer  the  children  of  Jehovah ;  for  they  have 
not  only  recklessly  forsaken,  they  have  wilfully  rejected, 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  This  name  for  God  first  ap- 
pears in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  and  it  is  seldom  — 
only  five  times  —  found  except  in  the  book  called  by  his 
name.  Its  precise  significance  is  disputed,  but  the  fol- 
lowing seems  to  be  the  correct  interpretation.  Jehovah 
is  called  the  Holy  One  on  account  of  his  absolute  tran- 
scendence above  everything  finite ;  by  virtue  of  which, 
he  is  an  appropriate  object  of  reverence  and  adoration 
(vi.  3  ;  xvii.  7  f.).  He  is  called  the  Holy  One  of  Israel 
on  account  of  the  especial  manifestations  of  his  holiness, 
in  the  sense  explained,  in  the  history  of  the  Hebrews ; 

*  The  first  three  clauses  of  the  verse  are  as  many  examples  of  parono- 
masia, the  effect  of  which  cannot  be  reproduced  in  English  without  taking 
too  much  liberty  with  the  text. 

t  On  "D3,  see  Ges.  §  93,  2,  R.  2. 


86  ISAIAH.  [I.  4,  5 

by  virtue  of  which  he  justly  claims  from  them  peculiar 
gratitude  and  confidence  (Ps.  lxxviii.  41  f . ;  Isa.  xli.  14). 
See  WRSmith,  PI,  224  f.;  Baudissin,  SSR,  II.  115  ff. 
When,  therefore,  the  prophet  says  that  his  people  have 
rejected  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  he  means  what  he  said 
in  other  words  in  v.  2,  that  they  have  denied  the  One  to 
whom  they  owe  their  existence  as  a  nation.* 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  baseness  of  such  con- 
duct. 

b.    THE  FOLLY  OF  IT  (vv.  5-9) 

is  made  equally  apparent. 

5.  The  paragraph  opens  with  a  protest ;  Why  ?  not, 
where?  (Vulgate);  for  the  form  of  the  following  verb 
(plural)  indicates  that  the  representation  of  Israel  as  a 
single  sufferer  begins  only  with  the  next  sentence. f 
Why,  he  says,  should  ye  increase  your  stripes  (lit.  be 
smitten  still X)}  implying  that  they  have  already  suf- 
fered. The  rest  of  the  sentence,  by  continued  apostasy 
(lit.  [  Why]  should  ye  add  apostasy),  explains  their  past 
and  present  suffering.  They  have  been,  and  are,  af- 
flicted because  they  have  been  disloyal  to  their  God. 
Now  follows  a  description  of  their  condition.  They 
are  a  bruised  and  mangled  body :  the  whole  head  .  .  . 
and  heart,  the  vital  parts,  and  that  in  their  entirety, 

*  The  last  clause,  become  apostate,  adds  nothing  to  the  meaning  of 
the  verse;  and,  as  its  omission  from  the  Septuagint,  as  well  as  the  disturb- 
ance in  the  rhythm  which  it  produces,  indicates,  is  doubtless  an  interpo- 
lation. Cheyne  (IBI)  and  others  pronounce  the  whole  paragraph  of 
doubtful  genuineness,  but  this  opinion  seems  based  on  a  mistaken  exe- 
gesis.    The  interpretation  above  given  necessitates  no  such  conclusion. 

t  On  the  use  of  Htt  bv,  see  Num.  xxii.  32,  etc. 

X  On  the  accentuation  of  *W,  see  Wickes,  UFA,  134. 


I.  5,  6]  COMMENTS.  S7 

are  seriously  affected.*  This  is  a  figurative  way  of 
saying,  not  that  the  Hebrews  were  thoroughly  cor- 
rupted by  sin  (Cheyne),  although  that  was  doubtless 
the  case,  but  that  they  were  completely  demoralized 
by  the  blows  with  which  they  had  been  smitten,  f 
And  no  wonder,  to  judge  from  the  severity  of  these 
blows. 

6.  From  the  sole  ...  to  the  very  head  one  looks  in 
vain  for  an  uninjured  spot  (comp.  2  Sam.  xiv.  25);  i.e., 
the  whole  country  and  people  have  felt  the  heavy  hand 
of  an  angry  Deity  (ix.  13/14)-  He  has  punished  them 
in  all  sorts  of  ways.  There  are  (figurative)  wounds,  and 
wales,  and  fresh  sores ;  %  the  country  is  "  bleeding  at 
every  pore";  and  not  the  least  relief  has  been,  or  is 
likely  to  be,  experienced.  It  is  not  necessary  to  trace 
the  exact  application  of  the  medical  terms  that  follow, 
but  it  will  be  worth  while  to  dwell  on  them  long  enough 
to  understand  their  literal  meaning.  Wounds,  it  seems, 
were  first  purged  (lit.  pressed  out),  if  they  needed  it, 
until  the  blood  or  pus  had  all  been  discharged ;  §  then 
they  were  bound  up ;  finally  they  were  moistened  with 
oil  or  wine,  the  former  of  which  was  highly  esteemed 

*  The  word  TO,  without  an  article  following,  is  usually  rendered  every  ; 
but  since  there  are  exceptions  {e.g.,  ix.  n/12),  and  the  strict  rendering 
would  require  one  to  give  to  the  word  head,  in  this  verse  a  literal,  and  in 
the  next  a  figurative,  interpretation,  it  seems  best  to  translate  it  all.  Comp. 
Delitzsch. 

t  If  the  sentence  will  not  bear  this  interpretation,  it  is  probably  not 
genuine.     It  might,  in  fact,  be  omitted  without  disturbing  the  context. 

%  These  nouns  are  all  singular  in  the  original. 

§  The  form  TIT  is  sometimes  derived  from  !TTI  (Siegfried  &  Stade), 
and  sometimes  from  "V?  (Bredenkamp) ;  but  it  is  rather  to  be  regarded  as 
an  example  of  the  (rare)  passive  of  the  first  stem  of  TIT.  See  Ols.  §  245, 1; 
comp.  Ges.  §  67,  R.  1. 


88  ISAIAH.  [I.  6,  7 

among  the  Hebrews  for  its  soothing  and  healing  prop- 
erties (Luk.  x.  34;  Joscphus,  AJ,  xvii.  6,  5).* 

7.  The  prophet  now  deserts  the  figure  thus  far  em- 
ployed, and  describes  to  his  people  in  plain  terms  the 
results  of  their  apostasy.  Your  land,  including  town 
and  country,  he  says,  is  a  desert ;  and  then  proceeds  to 
explain  what  he  means  by  this  statement.  It  is  a  land 
whose  cities  are  burned,  and  whose  soil,  or  the  produce 
of  it,  strangers  devour  in  the  very  eyes  of  its  starving 
cultivators.  There  follows  a  comparison  which  occurs 
several  times  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament  (Am.  iv. 
11  ;  Isa.  xiii.  19;  Deu.  xxix.  22/23;  Jcr-  xlix.  18;  1.  40). 
In  this  case  it  is  probably  a  gloss,  since  it  represents 
the  devastation  as  like  that  when  Sodom  f  was  over- 
thrown ;  i.e.,  complete  (Gen.  xix.  24  f.),  whereas  the  next 
verse  makes  an  important  exception. 

*  The  feminine  form  H221,  been  softened,  may  have  been  chosen  to 
denote  that  its  subject  is  either  of  the  preceding  nouns,  two  of  which  are 
feminine  (Dillmann) ;  but  it  may  also  be  explained  as  impersonal,  and 
thus  properly  rendered  by  the  plural. 

t  The  text  has  D'lT,  strangers,  which  has  been  variously  rendered :  as 
the  subject  of  the  preceding  verbal  noun,  thus :  like  an  overthroiv  by 
strangers  (Dillmann);  as  the  direct  object,  thus:  like  an  overthrow  of 
strangers  (Delitzsch)  ;  or,  finally,  as  the  indirect  object,  thus:  as  if  turned 
over  to  strangers  (Buhl).  The  second  is  the  only  one  of  these  renderings 
that  really  deserves  notice;  and  its  only  claim  to  consideration  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  can  be  interpreted  as  an  allusion  to  the  destruction  of  Sodom, 
with  reference  to  which  rDS.ID,  overthrow,  is  always  elsewhere  used.  If, 
however,  that  event  is  here  meant,  it  is  most  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  author  of  the  gloss,  adopting  the  current  formula,  wrote  C'"1D,  Sodom  ; 
and  that  C1T,  which  precedes  it  by  only  a  few  words,  was  carelessly  sub- 
stituted by  a  copyist;  and  this  supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
the  whole  clause  is  of  doubtful  genuineness.  Of  course,  the  objection  to 
CHI  holds  against  D"1T,  in  the  sense  of  inundation,  an  emendation  sug- 
gested by  Lowth. 


I.  8,  9]  COMMENTS.  89 

8.  That  exception  is  Zion  the  fair  (lit.  daughter  Zion),* 
Jerusalem,  under  the  figure  of  a  young  and  beautiful 
female.  See  xxxvii.  22 ;  com  p.  xlvii.  1  ;  Jer.  xlvi.  1 1  ; 
etc.  She  is  left,  but  like  a  booth  in  a  vineyard.  It  has 
always  been  necessary  to  guard  the  vineyards  while 
the  grapes  were  ripening  in  Palestine.  The  watchman 
builds  a  booth  of  green  boughs,  in  which  he  finds  shelter 
and  lies  in  wait  for  marauders.  It  is  a  booth  of  this 
kind,  deserted,  and  harried  by  the  winds  of  a  Judean 
winter,  to  which  the  prophet  compares  his  native  city. 
See  Thomson,  LB,  II.  424.  A  similar  structure  pro- 
tected the  guardian  of  a  field  of  cucumbers.  The  cucum- 
ber, in  two  varieties,  is  still  cultivated  extensively  in 
Egypt  (Num.  xi.  5)  and  Palestine,  and  freely  eaten,  raw 
or  cooked,  by  the  inhabitants.  See  Tristram,  NHB, 
441  f.  The  idea  of  isolation  is  further  emphasized  by  a 
third  comparison.  Zion,  although  not  actually  invested, 
is  like  a  city  besieged,  one  about  which  the  country  has 
been  ravaged  by  the  enemy,  f 

9.  Her  survival  is  a  miracle.  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  —  as 
he  is  most  frequently  called  in  the  books  of  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  while  Amos  and 
Hosea  use  "Jehovah,  the  God  of  Hosts,"  $  —  when  they 

*  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  130,  5. 

f  The  verb  "12B,  like  "10tt',  usually  means  watch  in  a  friendly  sense;  but 
Jer.  iv.  16  f.  is  proof  that  both  may  be  used  of  hostile  observation.  It  is 
therefore  unnecessary  to  resort  to  any  of  the  forced  interpretations  which 
have  been  suggested  by  commentators;  e.g.,  a  rescued  city  (JDMichaelis) ; 
a  garden  tower  (Scheid);  or  a  fortified  outpost  (Hitzig);  or  the  equally 
unsatisfactory  emendations;  eg.,  "I?,  booth,  for  TV,  city  (Scheid);  or,  for 
imX3,  rntiH  from  71X  (Dillmann),  or  miXa  (Weir).  It  would  be  better, 
with  Studer,  to  omit  the  clause  altogether. 

%  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  125,  2,  R.  2;   comp.  Henderson,  id. 


90  ISAIAH.  [I.  9 

were  seemingly  on  the  verge  of  destruction,  left  them 

—  Isaiah  says  us,  identifying  himself  with  his  people  in 
the  recognition  of  the  divine  hand  in  their  deliverance 

—  a  remnant  (lit.  a  survivor);  i.e.,  Zion.  If  he  had  not 
thus  intervened,  they  would  soon  *  have  been  as  Sodom  ; 
i.e.,  utterly  destroyed.     Comp.  v.  7. 

The  prophet,  in  these  last  three  verses,  is  evidently 
describing  an  existing  situation.  If  this  situation  can 
be  correctly  identified,  the  date  of  the  prophecy  will 
have  been  determined.  There  is  wide  difference  of 
opinion  with  reference  to  it.  It  has  been  identified 
with  that  which  resulted  from  the  invasion  of  Judah 
by  Pekah  of  Israel  and  Resin  of  Syria  in  the  reign  of 
Jotham,  mentioned  2  Kgs.  xv.  37  (Driver);  or  in  the 
reign  of  Ahaz,  as  reported  2  Kgs.  xvi.  5,  and  more  fully 
2  Chr.  xxviii.  5  ff.  (Orelli).  In  favor  of  both  of  these 
views,  is  the  evidence  that  Judah,  supposing  it  to  be 
the  country  here  meant,  actually  suffered  from  these 
invasions ;  also  the  position  of  this  chapter  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah;  but  it  is  hardly  safe 
to  judge  of  the  date  of  a  prophecy  by  its  position  in 
the  collection  ;  or  of  the  actual  course  of  events,  from  the 
narrative  of  the  Chronicler,  —  especially  in  view  of  the 
estimate  of  the  danger  from  the  allied  kings  that  Isaiah 
gave  Ahaz.  If  they  had  done,  or  were  likely  to  do, 
much  damage,  he  would  not  have  called  them  "  smok- 
ing stumps  of  firebrands  "  (vii.  4).  Comp.  Hackmann, 
ZJ,   1 1 5  ff .     A  safer  view  is  that  which  sees  in  these 

*  The  transfer  of  !2"£3,  soon,  from  the  first  to  the  second  half  of  the 
verse,  in  disregard  of  the  accents  as  fixed  by  Jewish  authorities  (Wickes, 
HPA,  134),  is  required  by  the  rhythm  and  authorized  by  such  passages  as 
Ps.  lxxxi.  15/14.     Comp.  Orelli. 


I.  9]  COMMENTS.  91 

verses  a  picture  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  during  the 
invasion  of  Sennacherib  in  701  (Cheyne,  IBI);  but  to 
it,  also,  there  are  serious  objections.  In  the  first  place, 
it  ignores  the  connection.  It  is  clear  from  the  context, 
that,  at  the  time  of  the  devastation  described,  the  wor- 
ship at  Jerusalem,  with  its  numerous  sacrifices,  pro- 
ceeded as  usual ;  which  cannot  have  been  the  case 
while  Sennacherib  occupied  the  country,  or  for  some 
time  after  his  withdrawal.  Secondly,  it  ignores  the 
difference  in  tone  —  note  especially  the  absence  of  any 
resentment  against  the  authors  of  the  devastation  — 
between  this  whole  chapter  and  the  prophecies  that 
unmistakably  belong  to  the  date  suggested.  The  two 
views,  therefore,  one  or  the  other  of  which  is  accepted 
by  most  interpreters,  are  alike  unsatisfactory ;  and  it 
is  necessary  to  look  for  a  better  than  either.  One  gets 
some  light  on  the  subject  by  noticing  to  whom  the 
prophecy  is  addressed.  In  the  third  verse  the  subject 
is  Israel  in  the  larger  sense,  the  Hebrew  people.  They 
are  the  sinful  nation  of  the  fourth ;  and  since,  as  most 
will  concede,  the  discourse  is  continuous,  it  must  be 
they,  or  as  many  of  them  as  survive,  whose  land  is  a 
desert,  etc.  The  land,  therefore,  must  be  Palestine. 
This  has  not,  however,  been  entirely  devastated.  Zion 
has  been  spared  (v.  8).  But  Zion  here  means  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Jerusalem,  to  Isaiah,  sometimes  at  least  means 
Judah.  See  the  phrase  Jerusalem  and  Judah.  If,  now, 
Zion  here  be  taken  in  the  larger  sense,  and  the  com- 
parison to  a  city,  as  well  as  the  context,  seems  to  require 
such  an  interpretation,  one  is  almost  driven  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  situation  is  that  which  existed  in  720, 
when  Sargon  had  completely  subjugated  Samaria  and 


92  ISAIAH.  [I.  9,  10 

pushed  his  conquests  to  the  border  of  Egypt.  This 
date  satisfies  all  reasonable  requirements.  It  explains 
the  devastation  of  the  country  and  the  isolation  of  Zion. 
It  accounts,  also,  for  the  attitude  of  Isaiah  toward  the 
invaders,  and  his  expectation  of  future  trouble  for  his 
people.  Moreover,  by  referring  this  chapter  to  the 
first  of  Sargon's  reign,  one  fills  a  gap  in  the  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  for  which  there  is  no  other  explanation.* 

Is  it  possible  that  these  severe  misfortunes  are  unde- 
served ?  that  the  people  have,  after  all,  been  loyal  to 
Jehovah  their  God  ?  As  if  in  answer  to  some  such 
suggestion  the  prophet  now  presents 


2.   The  Requirements  of  Jehovah  {vv.  10-20) ; 
first  negatively,  as  to 

a.    THE  FORMS   OF  RELIGION  (vv.  10-150). 

10.  He  does  not  retract  anything  :  in  fact,  he  resumes 
his  discourse  with  increased  severity,  addressing  his 
people  as  rulers  of  Sodom  and  people  of  Gomorrah; 
which  means  that,  although  they  have  escaped  the  fate 
of  the  cities  of  the  Plain,  it  is  not  because  they  deserved 
less  severe  treatment.  He  arraigns  them  again  in  the 
name  of  Jehovah ;  for,  the  law  to  which  he  bids  them 
give  ear,  is  not  a  written  code,  but  the  inspired  discourse 
that  he  is  about  to  utter.  See  viii.  6.  Then  he  pro- 
ceeds to  enumerate  the  numerous  observances  by  which 
they  thought  that  they  were  pleasing  God ;    and   pro- 

*  For  an  account  of  Sargon's  operations  in  Palestine  in  722  and  720  B.C., 
see  Intr.  Stud.  II. 


I.  I0-i2]  COMMENTS.  93 

nounces  them   one  after    another,  not   only  worthless, 
but  offensive  to  him. 

ii.  He  represents  Jehovah  as  contemptuously  reject- 
in--  their  sacrifices:  bloody  offerings,  including,  first, 
burnt  offerings ;  i.e.,  such  as  were  wholly  consumed 
before  Jehovah  in  the  manner  described  Lev.  i.  10  ff. 
There  was  another  kind,  peace  offerings,  of  which  the 
fat  was  burned  (Lev.  hi.),  while  the  remainder  was 
divided  between  the  priest  and  the  worshipper  (Lev.  vii. 
28  ff. ;  comp.  Deu.  xviii.  3).  the  blood  of  the  various 
sacrifices  was  variously  treated;  but  it  was  always 
sacred  to  Jehovah  (Lev.  i.  5;  iv.  61,  25).  Here  he 
refuses  to  accept  it. 

12.  He  rebukes  their  zeal  for  feasts.  When  ye  come, 
he  says,  as  every  male  was  required  to  do  three  times 
a  year  (Ex.  xxiii.  15  ;  Deu.  xvi.  16),  to  see  my  face  ;  *  to 
present  themselves  at  the  place  where  God  was  accus- 
tomed to  manifest  himself.  It  was  possible,  on  such 
an  occasion,  to  draw  very  near  to  the  Deity,  to  see  his 
power  and  his  glory  (Ps.  lxiii.  3/2)  ;  but  this  experience 
could  only  come  to  the  upright  (Ps.  xi.  8/7).  Those 
addressed  were  not  of  this  class.  Their  worship,  there- 
fore, could  only  be  a  hollow  form,  of  which   Jehovah 

*  This  is  the  only  natural  rendering  for  niKT?,  whether  followed,  as  in 
this  case,  by  "2,  face  of,  or,  as  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  24  and  Deu.  xxxi.  II,  by 
"2  TX;  although,  of  course,  "2  i"lK  sometimes  means  before  (Gen.  xix.  13). 
In  all  these  cases  the  punctuation  has  been  changed  from  niK"f?,  to  see,  to 
rnXI1?,  to  appear,  in  harmony  with  the  notion  that  the  original  was  for- 
bidden by  such  passages  as  Ex.  xxxiii.  20.  A  corresponding  change  has 
been  made  in  Ex.  xxiii.  15,  xxxiv.  20,  and  Ps.  xlii.  3,  with  "2,  and  in 
Ex.  xxiii.  17  (where  "2  Stf  is  a  scribal  error  for  "2  I"lK),  xxxiv.  23,  and 
1  Sam.  i.  22,  with  MS  HK.  The  explanation  of  "2  as  an  accusative  denot- 
ing the  limit  of  motion  (Nagelsbach),  or  depending  as  an  object  upon  the 
verb  (Orelli),  is  forced  and  unsatisfactory. 


94  ISAIAH.  [I.  12,  13 

might  justly  say,  who  hath  required  of  you  this  — 
trampling,  like  so  many  brute  beasts,  of  my  courts?* 
i.e.,  the  courts  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  where  this 
discourse  may  have  been  delivered. 

13.  In  this  verse  Jehovah  goes  farther  than  in  either 
of  the  two  preceding,  and  forbids  the  presentation  of 
the  vegetable  offering.  It  was  generally  brought  with 
an  animal  to  be  sacrificed ;  but,  in  certain  cases,  it  con- 
stituted the  entire  oblation  (Lev.  ii. ;  v.  11  ff.).  It  is 
here  described  as  worthless,  because,  in  the  case  in 
hand,  it  was  not  the  expression  of  a  proper  attitude 
toward  God.  For  this  reason,  also,  the  smoke  that 
arose  when  parts  of  it  were  burned,  instead  of  being 
a  "sweet  savor"  (Lev.  ii.  2,  etc.),  was  detestable  to 
him  f  (Prv.  xxi.  27).  Equally  abominable  is  the  New 
moon,  a  festival  observed  among  the  Hebrews,  as 
among  the  ancients  generally,  from  the  earliest  times 
(1  Sam.  xx.  5  ;  2  Kgs.  iv.  23),  but  not  made  so  promi- 
nent in  the  law  as  might  have  been  expected.  It  is  not 
mentioned  among  the  sacred  seasons  in  Lev.  xxiii., 
but  the  offerings  required  for  its  observance  are  de- 
tailed in  Num.  xxviii.  1 1  ff.  The  proclamation  of  holiday 
refers  to  those  days  of  the  annual  feasts  when  no  ser- 
vile work  was  permitted  (Lev.  xxiii.).  %    All  these  sacred 

*  The  Septuagint  connects  this  last  clause  with  the  first  of  the  following 
verse.  So,  also,  Duhm,  for  one  reason  because  the  connection  of  DDTtt, 
from  your  hand,  with  CE"1,  trample,  seems  to  him  ridiculous.  See,  how- 
ever, the  precisely  similar  phrase  C"T>  D"T,  lit.  hands  to  flee,  Jos.  viii.  20. 

t  This  is  the  rendering  required  by  the  accentuation.  See  Wickes, 
IIP  A,  134;   comp.  the  Septuagint,  etc. 

\  The  word  X"lpD  is  generally  rendered  assembly  or  convocation  ;  but 
such  a  translation  does  not  suit  the  context,  nor  is  it  any  more  satisfactory 
in  the  other  connections  in  which  the  word  is  evidently  used  in  the  same 


I.  13-153]  COMMENTS.  95 

seasons  cease  to  be  sacred,  and  become  profane,  and 
to  Jehovah  unendurable,  when  his  people  unite  false- 
hood, disloyalty  to  him  and  his  word  (Hos.  xi.  12),  with 
festivity  (lit.  festival).* 

14.  In  the  phrases  Your  new  moons  and  your  feasts, 
therefore,  the  emphasis  should  be  on  your.  Of  these 
Jehovah  says,  that  his  soul  hateth  them.  This  is  the 
human  way  of  expressing  the  inevitable  moral  repulsion 
induced  in  the  divine  nature  by  the  approach  of  un- 
worthy worshippers.  The  harshness  of  the  expression 
is  somewhat  relieved  by  the  following  sentence ;  for  the 
word  weary  implies  patience,  a  struggle  between  mercy 
and  repugnance,  f 

15a.  But  the  time  for  patience  is  past.  Already, 
says  Jehovah,  when  ye  spread  out  %  your  hands,  as  the 
Hebrews  were  accustomed  to  do  in  prayer  (Ex.  ix.  29  ; 
1  Kgs.  viii.  22),  I  hide  my  eyes  from  you.  In  the 
Hebrew  religion  prayer  was  an  important  element  of 
worship,  since  it  revealed  the  worshipper's  purpose  in 

signification  as  in  this  passage.  Its  real  meaning  may  be  gathered  from 
the  chapter  above  referred  to  (Lev.  xxiii.),  where  it  occurs,  always  with 
BHp,  holiness,  no  fewer  than  ten  times.  The  fourth  verse,  literally  trans- 
lated, reads :  "  These  are  the  seasons  of  Jehovah,  the  holy  D'Kipft,  which 
ye  shall  proclaim  in  their  seasons."  Here  D^fcOpfc,  whatever  it  may  mean, 
is  an  appositive  of  the  word  translated  seasons,  and  therefore  refers  to  the 
days  to  be  designated,  and  not  to  any  ceremony  performed  on  those  days. 
In  like  manner,  in  v.  3,  X~pft  is  an  appositive  of  sabbath,  and  therefore 
must  mean  a  day  fixed  by  authority;  with  the  addition  of  tt'lp,  a  day  pro- 
claimed holy,  a  holiday.     The  omission  here  of  tl'tp  is  easily  explained. 

*  In  Am.  v.  21  mil)  corresponds  to  3H,  feast ;  in  Lev.  xxiii.  36  it  is  a 
synonym  of  Z'lp  fc^ptt,  holiday. 

f  The  form  KtW,  for  nXC,  bear,  is  very  rare,  occurring  elsewhere  only 
xviii.  3  and  Gen.  iv.  13.     See  Ges.  §  76,  2,  a;   comp.  the  Septuagint. 

%  On  D5BT1B,  see  Ges.  §  61,  1,  R.  2. 


Or.  ISAIAH.  [I.  15a,  156 

approaching  Jehovah  (Gen.  xii.  8 ;  1  Sam.  i.  11).  When, 
therefore,  Jehovah  says  that  he  ignores  the  prayers  of 
his  unworthy  suppliants,  it  is  the  same  as  saying,  that 
their  worship  is  not  only  offensive  to  him,  but  useless 
to  themselves.  Nor  will  he  be  entreated,  although  they 
multiply  prayers  ;  i.e.,  however  earnestly  they  may  en- 
treat him.* 

These  verses  are  very  significant.  In  the  first  place, 
they  were  evidently  suggested  by  Am.  v.  21  ff.,  a  fact 
which,  alone,  ought  to  prevent  one  from  referring  them, 
whatever  might  be  thought  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter, 
to  so  late  a  date  as  that  of  Sennacherib's  invasion.  See 
ii.  6  ff.,  ix.  7/8  ff.  They  also  reveal  the  existence,  in 
Isaiah's  time,  of  a  complete  cultus  at  Jerusalem,  which 
must  have  employed  many  priests  and  other  attendants, 
and  undoubtedly  was  conducted  more  or  less  in  accord- 
ance with  written  regulations.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
clear,  from  the  attitude  of  Isaiah  toward  the  forms  of 
religion,  that  they  had  not  yet  acquired  the  sanctity 
which  such  regulations  would  have  given  them,  if 
already  recognized  as  the  law  of  Jehovah. 

This  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  hypocritical  zeal 
of  the  day  has  prepared  the  way  for  a  positive  declara- 
tion by  Jehovah  as  to 

b.    THE   SUBSTANCE    OF  PIETY  (vv.  15  £-20). 

It  has  two  sides,  the  first  of  which  is 

(1)  The  Outward  Manifestation  (7  V.  \$b-\"j).  —  15*.  Now 
appears,  more  clearly  than  heretofore,  the  reason  for  the 

*  The  last  clause  of  this  verse  belongs  to  the  next  paragraph. 


I.  156-166]  COMMENTS.  97 

strong  language  of  the  preceding  section.  Your  hands, 
the  very  hands  uplifted  to  him  in  supplication,  says 
Jehovah,  are  full  of  blood.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  all  those  to  whom  these  words  were  addressed 
were,  strictly  speaking,  guilty  of  murder ;  the  meaning 
must  rather  be,  that,  as  a  class,  they  were  given  to 
violence,  which  might,  and  sometimes  actually  did,  issue 
in  the  death  of  their  less  powerful  fellows.  See  v.  21  ; 
comp.  Duhm.  (i6<*)  From  this  stain  they  are  to  wash, 
cleanse*  themselves  ;  not  by  any  ceremonial  observance 
(Gen.  xxxv.  2  ;  Lev.  xiv.  8),  nor,  so  far  as  yet  appears, 
by  any  supernatural  process  :  it  is  a  matter  of  life  and 
conduct.  Their  sinful  habits  and  practices  have  made 
them  offensive  to  Jehovah ;  they  cannot  hope  for  his 
favor  except  they  remove  these  evil  deeds  from  his 
sight ;  i.e.,  renounce  them,  and  come  into  his  presence 
without  them.     Comp.  Jer.  xviii.  8.f 

\db.  It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  one  should 
change  one's  course ;  one  must  continue  in  the  better 
way.  Jehovah,  therefore,  requires  that  those  who 
would  please  him  Cease  to  do  evil.  Nor  is  this  all : 
(17)  they  must  learn  to  do  well ;  exchange  the  old  habit 
of  doing  evil  for  the  customary  practice  of  good.  This 
thought  is  further  developed.  They  have  delighted  in 
injustice ;  they  must  with  equal  eagerness  Seek  justice. 
This  is  a  general  requirement,  under  which  the  rest  are 
specifications.  The  first  special  duty  is  to  correct  the 
oppressor.  Those  were  lawless  times,  when  such  as  had 
power  were  constantly  tempted  to  use  it  to  the  disad- 
vantage   of   the   weak.     These    oppressors    are   to    be 

*  On  "OH,  see  Ges.  §  54,  2,  b,  R. 

t  The  last  clause  of  this  verse,  also,  belongs  to  the  verse  following. 


9S  ISAIAH.  [I.  16&-18 

taught  to  respect  the  rights  of  their  fellows  (Ex.  xxiii. 
2).  As  in  the  Law  (Ex.  xxii.  22;  Deu.  xxiv.  17),  two 
classes  are  here  especially  commended  to  the  care  of 
those  who  seek  Jehovah's  favor.  They  are  to  judge 
the  orphan ;  i.e.,  as  rulers ;  for  it  is  evident  from  the 
term  used,  that  here,  as  in  the  most  of  Isaiah's  proph- 
ecies, the  governing  classes  are  addressed.  They  are 
to  see  that  the  cause  of  the  fatherless  is  brought  to  a 
just  and  a  speedy  termination  (Deu.  xxv.  1).  They 
are  also  to  defend  the  widow ;  take  her  part  against  her 
adversaries. 

This  is  a  very  brief  list  of  virtues,  and  they  are  all  of 
the  same  order.  The  explanation  of  these  facts  is  not 
far  to  seek.  The  times  were  such  that  it  was  a  fair 
test  of  one's  relation  to  Jehovah  to  inquire  whether  one 
possessed  these  civic  virtues.  Moreover,  this  enumera- 
tion is  followed  by  a  declaration  concerning 

(2)  The  Inward  Disposition  {yv.  18-20),  —  from  which 
alone  such  manifestations  could  be  expected. 

iS.  Come  now  does  not  introduce  an  appeal,  but,  as 
the  context  would  lead  one  to  expect,  a  proposition ;  viz. 
let  us  come  to  an  understanding  (lit.  judge  one  another)', 
settle  the  terms  on  which  the  present  antagonism  shall 
cease.  These  terms  Jehovah  himself  submits  to  his 
rebellious  children  for  their  acceptance.  In  the  first 
place  he  makes  a  concession.  They  have  sinned  against 
him  and  richly  deserved,  not  only  the  misfortunes  that 
they  have  already  suffered,  but  much  severer  penalties. 
These  he  proposes  to  remit :  though  your  sins  be  as 
scarlet,  —  and  some  of  them,  in  their  glaringness,  might 
well  be  compared  to  stuff  of  the  most  brilliant  of  col- 


I.  1 8,  ig]  COMMENTS.  99 

ors,*  —  he  says,  they  shall  become  white  as  snow:  the 
stain  which  they  have  made  shall  be  entirely  removed 
(Ps.  li.  9/7);  of  course,  on  the  condition  already  stated 
(v.  16),  and  to  be  repeated  in  another  form,  that  the  sin- 
ners themselves  renounce  their  evil  deeds.  In  other 
words,  Jehovah  proclaims  a  general  amnesty  as  the  first 
article  of  the  new  covenant,  f  The  repetition  of  this 
announcement  in  slightly  different  language  J  gives  one 
time  to  realize  the  greatness  of  the  grace  that  dictated  it. 
19.  The  second  article  states  what  is  expected  by 
Jehovah  of  the  other  parties  to  the  covenant.  The  sig- 
nificant word  in  it  is  willing.  By  willingness  is  meant 
the  voluntary  subordination  of  the  human  to  the  divine 
will  by  which  the  ancient  worthies  were  characterized 
(Ps.  xxv.  4f.),  and  of  which  Jesus,  in  his  life  and  death, 
was  the  perfect  example  (Mat.  xxvi.  36  ff. ).  To  willing 
is  added  obedient ;  i.e.,  giving  expression  to  the  dispo- 
sition required.  The  result  is  the  only  sort  of  works 
acceptable  to  Jehovah  (1  Sam.  xv.  22).  With  such, 
however,  he  is  well  pleased.  He  therefore  promises 
these  recreant  Jews  that,  if  they  will  pursue  the  path  of 
obedience,   instead    of   seeing   their   country    despoiled 

*  The  color  named  was  produced  from  the  coccus  ilicis,  an  insect  of  the 
size  of  a  small  pea,  found  on  a  species  of  oak  in  the  countries  about  the 
Mediterranean.  The  Arabic  name  of  the  insect  is  kermes,  whence  the 
English  crimson. 

t  Other  interpretations  have  been  suggested.  The  most  important  are  : 
that  of  Duhm,  who  renders  the  apodosis  as  an  ironical  demand;  and  that 
of  JDMichaelis,  who  translates  it  as  a  question.  Neither  of  them  seems  to 
justify  his  view  from  the  context.     See  also  Gesenius,  i.l. 

\  The  same  color  is  meant  in  both  cases.  In  the  second  the  Hebrew 
name  is  177111,  worm,  which,  like  vermilion,  denotes  the  source  from 
which  the  color  is  obtained,  and  is  sometimes  found  either  before  or  after 
"X\     Comp.  Ex.  xxv.  4  and  Lev.  xiv.  4. 


100  ISAIAH.  [I.  ig,  20 

they  shall  eat  the  best  of  the  land ;  enjoy  the  utmost 
prosperity  (Am.  ix.  n  ff.). 

20.  This  is  the  portion  of  those  who  accept  the  terms 
proposed.  What  if  they  are  wilful,  careless  of  the 
will  of  their  God,  and  rebellious,  resisting  his  claims 
upon  them  ?  The  answer  is  forthcoming  :  they  are  to 
taste  the  sword  ;  *  die  by  the  sword,  as  so  many  of  their 
people  have  lately  done.  The  declaration,  the  mouth  of 
Jehovah  hath  spoken,  is  by  the  prophet  in  his  own  per- 
son; perhaps,  however,  it  might  be  regarded  as  a  solemn 
acknowledgment  of  the  foregoing,  the  signature,  as  it 
were,  of  Jehovah. 

In  the  preceding  paragraph  the  way  was  opened  for 
the  return  of  the  unhappy  remnant  of  Israel  to  right- 
eousness and  prosperity.  The  prophet  seems  to  have 
known  that  the  overtures  of  Jehovah  would  be  useless. 
At  any  rate,  he  proceeds  with  his  discourse  as  if  they 
had  already  been  rejected,  bringing  new  accusations 
against  his  countrymen,  and  warning  them  of  the  chas- 
tisements by  which  the  nation,  or  Jerusalem  as  repre- 
senting it,  is  to  be  purified.  This  closing  division  of  the 
chapter  may  be  entitled 

3.   The  Faithful  Town  (vv.  21-31). 
The  first  verses  are  devoted  to  a  description  of 

*  The  text  reads,  "DSKn  2"in,  which  is  rendered,  either,  ye  shall  be 
devoured  by  the  sword  (Delitzsch,  who  quotes  Ps.  xvii.  13),  or,  ye  shall  be 
made  to  devour  the  sword  (Hitzig,  who  cites  Jer.  ix.  14)  ;  but  the  former  of 
these  disturbs  the  parallelism,  and  the  latter  seems  far-fetched;  hence  it  is 
better  to  give  the  verb  the  form  I'TCKP  and  the  translation  above  adopted. 
Comp.  further  Ges.  §  121,  3;   Miil,  §  419,  R.  a. 


I.  2i,  22]  COMMENTS.  101 

a.    ITS  DEGENERACY  (vv.  21-23). 

21.  Its  condition  fills  him  with  surprise  and  sorrow. 
How,  he  exclaims;  i.e.,  Alas!  can  it  be?  how  hath  the 
faithful  town  become  a  harlot !  Then  he  explains  what 
he  means  by  a  faithful  town  :  one  whose  inhabitants 
love  and  practise  righteousness.*  He  also  explains  the 
term  harlot.  The  relation  between  Jehovah  and  his 
people  was  early  and  often  compared  to  the  nuptial  tie, 
and  unfaithfulness  on  the  part  of  the  latter  represented 
as  adultery.  The  figure  is  a  favorite  one  with  Hosea, 
who,  in  his  first  three  chapters,  has  wellnigh  exhausted 
it.  See  also  Eze.  xvi.  The  sin  most  frequently  denounced 
under  this  name  is  idolatry  (Ex.  xxxiv.  15  f .),  which  is 
charged  in  v.  29;  but  here  it  evidently  includes  only  the 
offences  against  justice  enumerated  in  v.  23. t 

22.  There  follow  two  metaphors.  The  city  is  ad- 
dressed. Thy  silver,  pure  metal,  says  the  prophet,  has 
become  dross;  i.e.,  to  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the 
other  figure,  and  with  the  development  of  this  one  in 
v.  25,  has  been  debased  by  dross,  as  in  counterfeit  coins 
(Eze.  xxii.  18).  %  He  adds  :  thy  drink,  genuine,  unadul- 
terated wine,  such  as  one  would  buy  of  an  honest 
dealer,  is  diluted  (lit.  circumcised),  robbed  of  its  strength, 
and  flavor,  and  value.  §     One  has  no  right  to  conclude 

*  On  'n^btt,  full,  see  Ges.  §  90,  3,  a.  The  Septuagint  supplies  as  its 
subject  Zion. 

f  Duhm  is  probably  right  in  pronouncing  the  last  words  of  this  verse, 
but  now  murderers,  a  gloss  suggested  by  v.  15.  They  certainly  disturb  the 
rhythm  and  produce  an  anticlimax.     See  also  Cheyne,  IB  I. 

\  This  figure  is  finely  elaborated  by  Aristophanes,  in  The  Frogs.  See 
especially  the  translation  of  JHFrere,  Works,  III.  27Sf. 

§  Compare  the  Latin  castrare  vinum,  and  the  German  Wein  taufen. 


102  ISAIAH.  [I.  22-24 

from  this  passage  that  the  Hebrews  drank  their  wine 
clear,  but  only  that  they  wanted  it  unmixed  when  they 
bought  it. 

23.  The  figures  used  are  now  applied  ;  and  it  appears 
that,  as  usual,  the  prophet  has  in  mind  the  upper  classes. 
It  is  they  who  have  been  debased'  and  weakened. 
Comp.  Skinner.  This  he  charges  in  so  many  words, 
introducing  his  indictment  by  a  paronomasia  borrowed 
from  Hosea  (ix.  15),  which  may  be  rendered:  Thy  princes, 
those  whose  duty  it  was  to  administer  justice,  are  un- 
principled (lit.  rebels))  viz.  against  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth.  They  are  partners  of  thieves,  whom  they  acquit 
for  a  share  in  their  plunder.  They  love  a  bribe,  a  bid 
for  their  judicial  honor;  and  chase  after  fees;  eagerly 
abuse  their  offices  for  money.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
neglect  those  who  cannot  reward  them.  Thus  the 
orphan  appeals  to  them  in  vain  for  justice;  and,  how- 
ever just  or  urgent  may  be  the  widow's  case,  it  doth  not 
reach  them ;  never  so  much  as  secures  a  hearing. 

This  is  a  sad  condition  of  things.  It  cannot  but 
arouse  the  wrath  of  Jehovah.  What  will  be  the  result  ? 
Will  he  destroy  the  last  remnant  of  his  people  ?  Isaiah 
hopes  not ;  indeed,  although  he  sees  how  degenerate 
Jerusalem  has  become,  he  predicts 

b.     ITS  REGENERATION  {yv.  24-31). 

24.  First,  however,  it  must  be  purged  from  its  impuri- 
ties. The  description  of  the  process  by  which  this  is 
to  be  accomplished  is  introduced  by  the  Therefore  that 
regularly  connects  an  indictment  with  the  sentence  in 
which  it  issues.     The  accumulation  of  divine  names  is 


I.  24,  25]  COMMENTS.  103 

intended  to  add  solemnity  to  the  declaration  that  follows. 
the  Lord,  through  the  mistaken  conservatism  of  trans- 
lators and  revisers,  is  a  very  frequent  appellation  for 
God  in  the  English  version.  The  only  word  properly 
so  rendered  is  comparatively  rare  in  the  original.*  the 
Champion  (lit.  the  Strong  One)  of  Israel,  elsewhere  always 
Jacob,  in  this  connection  can  only  mean  the  defender  of 
Israel  against  themselves.  See  Gen.  xlix.  24.  This 
great  and  terrible  Being  cries  Ha !  like  a  warrior  going 
to  battle.  He  is  indeed  about  to  punish  his  adversaries, 
who,  this  time,  are  neither  the  Egyptians  nor  the  Ca- 
naanites,  nor  the  Syrians,  nor  any  other  foreign  people, 
but  his  own  apostate  children.! 

25.  This  becomes  clear  when  he  says,  I  will  turn  my 
hand  against  thee ;  i.e.,  Jerusalem,  whose  silver  has 
become  debased,  etc.  It  also  now  becomes  apparent 
that  his  fury,  like  the  fire  by  which  the  silver  ore  is 
smelted  in  the  furnace,  %  and  the  lead,  which  is  frequently 

*  The  noun  p7K,  without  suffixes,  occurs  with  the  article  five  times  (i. 
24;  iii.  I;  x.  16,  33;  xix.  4)  in  Isaiah,  always  with  mXS2£  TV,??,  Jehovah  oj 
Hosts;  elsewhere  only  three  times;  twice  (Ex.  xxxiii.  17,  xxxiv.  23)  with 
ni!T,  and  once  (Mai.  iii.  1)  without  any  further  designation.  It  is  used 
only  seven  times  without  the  article :  once  (Ps.  cxiv.  7)  alone,  and  six 
times  (Jos.  iii.  11,  13;  Mic.  iv.  13;  Zee.  iv.  14;  vi.  5;  Ps.  xcvii.  5)  fol- 
lowed by  flNn  73,  all  the  earth.  The  form  ^HS,  in  the  sense  of  the 
Lord  (third  person),  is  more  common;  but,  according  to  Fiirst,  it  is 
found  only  sixty-nine  times  in  the  entire  Old  Testament.  Duhm  pro- 
nounces mK32£  (TlfT  in  this  case  a  gloss;  but  since,  as  above  shown,  it 
always  elsewhere  accompanies  p7X7,  and  7X7C  7'2X,  champion  of  Israel, 
like  Spy  "T3X,  champion  of  Jacob,  would  naturally  be  applied  to  God  as 
the  defender  of  his  people,  it  is  better,  if  the  line  is  to  be  shortened,  to 
drop  this  third,  rather  than  the  second,  title.     So  Budde,  ZA  IV,  1891,  246. 

t  On  fflDpS,  see  Ges.  §  51,  R.  4. 

J  The  text  has  723,  either,  as  in  the  great  versions,  thoroughly,  or,  as 
with  a  flux  (Ges.  §  118,  6,  d) ;   but  both  expressions  are  rather  awkward; 


104  ISAIAH.  [I.  25-27 

found  therein  in  large  quantities,  separated,  will  cleanse 
her  from  her  impurities.  See  Eze.  xxii.  1 7  ff . ;  Mai. 
iii.  2  f. 

26.  Then,  he  says,  abandoning  the  figure,  will  I  restore 
thee  judges  (lit.  restore  thy  judges),  not,  however,  the  pres- 
ent unfaithful  ones  brought  back  to  integrity,  but  new 
ones  taken  from  the  number  of  those  found  worthy  to 
be  spared  when  the  rest  of  the  nation  are  destroyed ; 
as  at  first,  in  the  good  old  times,  when,  under  David  and 
Solomon,  righteousness  dwelt  in  the  city  (2  Sam.  iv. 
5  ff . ;  1  Kgs.  iii.  16  ff.).  Comp.  ix.  5/6  f.  and  xi.  iff., 
where  the  king  takes  the  place  of  these  judges.  There- 
after, when  the  new  order  of  things  shall  have  been 
established,  he  adds,  thou  shalt  be  called,  because  she  is, 
the  above  all  others  righteous  city.  The  prophecy 
might  have  ended  with  a  faithful  town,*  and  it  would, 
perhaps,  have  so  ended  had  Isaiah's  object  been  to  com- 
fort the  righteous.  Since,  however,  he  evidently  had 
the  opposite  class  in  mind,  it  is  natural  that  he  should 
have  supplemented  the  statement  just  made  by  a  last 
warning. 

27.  He  commences  by  repeating  the  promise  of  the 
last  verse,  Zion  shall  be  redeemed.  By  what  means  ? 
The  answer  is,  justice.      But  this  is  ambiguous.      Does 

and  to  the  latter  there  is  the  added  objection  that  it  is  doubtful  if  "12,  which 
is  sometimes  so  rendered  in  Job  ix.  30,  is  an  equivalent  of  JVC,  alkali.  It 
is  therefore  probable  that  the  reading  proposed  by  Durell,  and  adopted  by 
Lowth,  "122 ,  for  1133,  is  the  correct  one.  Duhm's  conjecture,  -]S"liJX 
"12,  /  will  purge  thee  with  alkali,  is  less  natural,  and,  therefore,  less 
satisfactory. 

*  Duhm  insists  that  it  did;  so  also  Cheyne  (IBI) ;  but,  if  this  had  been 
the  case,  would  the  editor  have  added  the  following  verses?  See  Hack- 
mann,  ZJ,  1 14  f. 


I.  27,  28]  COMMENTS.  105 

he  mean  the  divine  justice  as  displayed  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  wicked,  or  the  human  justice  which  is  to 
characterize  the  judges  of  the  Jerusalem  of  the  future  ? 
In  favor  of  the  former  view  are  such  passages  as  iv.  4, 
v.  16,  and  xxviii.  17  (Delitzsch).  It  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted, that  in  v.  25  Isaiah  represents  a  display  of  the 
divine  justice  as  necessary  to  the  purification,  and  thus 
indirectly  to  the  preservation,  of  the  city.  The  second 
interpretation  is  supported  by  the  following  considera- 
tions :  the  act  of  deliverance  is  one  implying  in  the 
agent  an  emotion  for  which  a  reason  in  the  character 
of  the  person  or  persons  delivered  is  naturally  sought 
(comp.  v.  25) :  in  v.  26  righteousness  is  the  chief  charac- 
teristic of  the  Zion  of  the  future  :  finally,  this  verse  was 
evidently  intended  to  be  taken  as  in  antithesis  with 
v.  28 ;  but  the  figure  requires  that  it  shall  be  the  right- 
eous who  are  delivered,  as  it  is  the  wicked  who  are 
destroyed.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  seems  best  to  inter- 
pret the  justice  in  question  as  the  justice  of  Zion,  par- 
ticularly of  her  rulers,  and  the  righteousness  as  the 
righteousness  of  them  that  dwell  therein,*  the  inhabit- 
ants in  general.     Comp.  Delitzsch. 

2S.  In  the  strongest  contrast  with  the  deliverance  of 
the  righteous  is  the  common  destruction  of  the  revolters, 
the   ungrateful   children   of  v.   2,  and  the  sinners,  the 

*  iTStJP  (Doderlein).  The  text  has  fTOlP;  which,  if  it  be  retained, 
may  be  taken  either  figuratively  or  literally.  In  the  former  case  it  would 
mean  her  penitents,  the  converts  of  the  English  version.  See  lix.  20. 
Taken  in  the  latter  sense,  it  would  not  necessarily  mean  those  released 
from  captivity  in  a  foreign  country,  but  might  denote  such  as  had  been 
temporarily  driven  from  their  homes  by  the  convulsions  in  which  the  wicked 
were  destroyed.  The  Septuagint  read  ~"p'w,  her  captivity ;  see  also  the 
Peshita  and  Luther;    comp.  the  Vulgate. 


106  ISAIAH.  [I.  28,  29 

erring  nation  of  v.  4.     In  the  latter  verse  occurs  the 
original  of  they  that  forsake  Jehovah.* 

29.  For,  continues  the  prophet ;  and  one  inquires  what 
he  can  mean  by  saying  that  the  apostates  shall  perish 
because  they  shall  be  ashamed.  |  The  difficulty  disap- 
pears when  one  remembers  how  Isaiah  elsewhere  cm- 
ploys  his  references  to  idolatry  :  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  oaks  here  mentioned  stand  for  trees  of 
the  larger  sort,  which  are  still  reverenced  in  Palestine 
(Thomson,  LB,  II.  222),  and  which,  like  the  gardens 
(lxv.  3  ;  lxvi.  1 7),  in  ancient  times  furnished  desirable 
places  for  the  practice  of  idolatry  (Jer.  ii.  20 ;  Eze.  vi. 
13).  %  The  passages  that  bear  on  this  point  are  ii.  18  ff. 
and  xvii.  7  f.  In  both  of  them  Isaiah  represents  idols 
as  the  supposed  protectors  of  their  owners.  In  the 
former  the  futility  of  confidence  in  them  is  vividly  por- 
trayed. The  unfortunate  objects  of  Jehovah's  indigna- 
tion, finding  their  costliest  images  only  a  burden,  hurl 
them  "to  the  moles  and  the  bats."  The  situation  is  the 
same  in  the  present  instance.  In  the  preceding  verse 
those  who  have  been  disloyal  to  Jehovah  are  threatened 
with  destruction  ;  and  now,  lest  they  should  delude  them- 
selves with  the  idea  that,  in  their  extremity,  they  can 
take  refuge  with  the  false  divinities  which  they  have 

*  Cheyne  (IBI)  pronounces  vv.  27  f.  ungenuine;  but,  if  the  above 
interpretation  is  correct,  their  genuineness  seems  established. 

t  The  text  has  W2P,  they  shall  be  ashamed,  changing  the  person  in  the 
next  verb.  This  would  sound  strange  in  English.  It  is  best,  therefore, 
either,  with  the  Septuagint,  to  carry  the  third  person  through  this  and  the 
following  verses,  or,  with  the  Targum,  to  use  the  second  from  the  beginning. 
See  Ges.  §  144,  4,  b,  R.  3. 

J  For  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  subject  of  sacred  trees  among  the 
Hebrews,  see  Baudissin,  SSR,  II.  223  ff. 


I.  29-31]  COMMENTS.  107 

associated  with  the  true  God,  he  tells  them  that  they  will 
be  confounded,  disappointed. 

30.  He  insists,  therefore,  on  his  direful  forecast.  The 
second  for  brings  him  back  to  it ;  but,  instead  of  repeat- 
ing it  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  originally  presented, 
he  clothes  it  in  figures  suggested  by  his  reference  to  the 
sacred  trees  and  gardens  to  which  his  countrymen  were 
devoted.  He  tells  them  that,  as  a  result  of  the  coming- 
catastrophe,  they  will  be  like  one  of  these  trees,  e.g.,  a 
terebinth,  the  pistacia  terebinthus  or  turpentine  tree.* 
It  grows  to  a  large  size,  like  the  oak,  which,  at  a  dis- 
tance, it  much  resembles.  It  is  now  comparatively  rare 
west  of  the  Jordan,  but  in  the  country  once  occupied  by 
the  Moabites  and  the  Ammonites  fine  specimens  are  still 
abundant.  See  Tristram,  ATHB,  400  f .  It  is  such  a 
tree,  with  withered  foliage,  when  its  leaves  are  dry  and 
ready  to  fall,  e.g.,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  better,  as 
the  effect  of  drought  or  decay,  which  they  are  to  re- 
semble ;  or  a  garden  that  hath  no  water.  No  rain  falls 
in  Palestine  from  May  until  October.  Irrigation  is 
therefore  a  necessity.  If  for  any  reason  it  is  neglected, 
everything  withers.  It  was  so  in  Isaiah's  time.  His 
readers  had  seen  their  own  crops,  and  even  the  sacred 
plantations,  ruined  by  drought,  and  they  appreciated  this 
figure.     See  xvii.  10. 

31.  A  tree  with  sapless  leaves  readily  takes  fire.  So, 
says  Isaiah,  the  strong  one,  who  oak-like  (Am.  ii.  9)  over- 
tops his  fellows,  but  has  separated  himself  from  the 
only  source  of  life  and  blessing  (Ps.  i**3).  He  shall  be 
tow,  tinder,  and  his  work,  not  his  idol  (Orelli),  but  the 

*  On  the  meaning  of  ~7X  and  the  related  words,  see  Baudissin,  SSR, 
II.  185,  n. 


10S  ISAIAH.  [I.  31-II.  1 

violence  that  he  has  wrought,*  a  spark,  the  means  of 
his  destruction.  It  is  the  old,  familiar  truth,  abundantly 
illustrated  in  human  experience,  that  sin  is  suicidal  (Prv. 
viii.  36).  And  there  is  none  to  quench  them,  because 
they  have  forsaken  the  only  one  who  could  help  them. 

This  was  about  720  B.C.  It  was  twenty  years,  more 
or  less,  before  the  threatened  chastisement  was  inflicted  ; 
but,  when  it  came,  it  was  thorough  enough  to  satisfy 
even  Isaiah's  sense  of  justice. 

The  first  chapter  is  followed  by  a  series  of  eleven, 
which  there  are  good  reasons  for  grouping  together. 
Thus,  as  has  already  (Intr.  Stud.  III.)  been  noticed, 
the  first  is  introduced  by  a  title,  and  the  last  furnishes 
a  fitting  conclusion.  A  second  reason  is  that,  although 
the  prophecies  of  this  series  are  of  various  dates,  they 
are  mostly  the  earlier  utterances  of  Isaiah,  and  there 
are  few  of  the  same  period  found  elsewhere  in  the  col- 
lection. Finally,  these  chapters  are  connected  by  a 
thought  which  seems  to  pervade  them  as  it  does  not  the 
remaining  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  or  his  editor.  It  is  not 
fully  expressed  in 

The  Title  (ii.  1). 

This,  like  i.  1,  leads  one  to  expect  things  revealed  to 
Isaiah,  —  when,  the  reader  is  not  informed, — concern- 
ing Judah  and  Jerusalem  only ;  whereas  the  book  con- 

*  The  Masoretes  mistook  pDrHi  the  strong,  for  an  epithet  of  idols,  and 
therefore  probably  intended  that  "DUB  should  be  taken  as  a  participle,  its 
maker.  Comp.  Ew.  §  60,  b.  Lagarde,  going  farther  in  the  same  direction, 
substitutes  JEm.  the  sun-pillar,  for  pDffili  and  1?U3>  his  baal,  for  17I7B. 


II.  l}  2]  COMMENTS.  109 

tains  much  of  importance  bearing  on  the  destiny  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  The  discrepancy  can  be  explained 
in  this,  as  in  the.  preceding  instance,  by  supposing  the 
phraseology  chosen  to  be  meant  to  indicate  merely  the 
most  prominent  topic  treated.*  The  book  as  a  whole 
may  be  said  to  have  for  its  general  subject 

A.    THE  FUTURE  OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE  (ii.  2-xii.  6). 

The  phrase  God's  people  is  capable  of  two  inter- 
pretations. It  may  mean,  either  the  people  graciously 
selected  to  receive  peculiar  manifestations  of  the  divine 
favor,  or  that  part  of  this  people  that  realizes  the  divine 
purpose  in  making  such  manifestations.  The  subject 
is  treated  in  both  of  these  aspects.  The  first  chapters 
are  chiefly  devoted  to 

l.   The  Disloyal  Mass  (ii.  2-vi.   13): 

the  sins  by  which  it  is  defiled,  and  the  judgments  by 
which  it  is  to  be  purified.  This  topic  is  presented  three 
times  in  three  different  ways.  In  the  first  place,  there 
are  three  chapters  which  may  be  grouped  under  the 
heading, 

a.    THE  IDEAL  AND  ITS  REALIZATION  (ii.  2-iv.  6). 

The  first  paragraph  introduces  this  ideal,  viz. 

(l)  A  Universal  Shrine  (ii.  2-4).  —  2.  It  begins  with  a 
very  familiar  idiom,  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  which 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  title  belonged  to  the  original  collection,  or  some 
part  of  it,  but,  in  view  of  the  order  of  the  words  Judah  and  Jerusalem, 
not  probable  that  it  originated  with  Isaiah.     Comp.  Hitzig. 


110  ISAIAH.  [II.  2 

would  naturally  connect  what  follows  with  something 
preceding.  It  always  elsewhere  answers  this  purpose. 
See  vii.  2 iff.  In  the  present  instance  the  title  with 
which  the  chapter  begins  makes  such  a  use  of  it  im- 
possible. It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  passage  which 
it  here  introduces  must  originally  have  stood  in  some 
other  connection.  This  is  generally  conceded ;  but 
there  is  wide  difference  of  opinion  on  the  question 
whence  it  was  taken.  There  are  those  who  think  that 
it  has  simply  been  removed  from  its  proper  place  in  the 
writings  of  Isaiah  (Duhm).  Others,  recalling  the  fact 
that  the  passage  occurs  almost  literatim  in  Mic.  iv.  1-3, 
assert  that  Isaiah  here  quotes  Micah  (Delitzsch).*  To 
the  latter  view  it  is  objected:  (1)  that,  although  the 
form  in  which  the  passage  appears  in  the  book  of 
Micah  is  the  more  original,  Jer.  xxvi.  18  seems  to  teach 
that  Mic.  hi.  12,  and  therefore  iv.  iff.,  belongs  to  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah,  whereas  Isa.  ii.  must  be  considerably 

*  The  following  are  the  variations  between  the  two  versions : 


Isa. 

ii.  2. 

mr  pa 

Mic. 

iv.  1. 

pas  .  .  .  rrrr 

wni 

2. 

Kin  mm 

ib* 

lbs 

tami  bz 

ma 

3- 

D'fcU 
13PT1 

en: 

13TP1 

4- 

aron 

cyan  o'fivb 

nrmnn 

Drrnimm 

*UP 

rtobi 

3- 

n-ai  ma 
pini  is  D"a^y  or\h 

orrnn-sm 

II.  2]  COMMENTS.  Ill 

earlier ;  (2)  that  the  relation  of  Mic.  iv.  1  ff.  to  the  con- 
text is  not  much  closer  than  that  of  this  passage  to  its 
present  setting ;  and  (3)  that — and  this  last  objection 
militates  against  both  of  the  views  stated,  and  also 
against  a  third  according  to  which  both  prophets  bor- 
rowed from  an  earlier  author,  —  although  there  are  in 
this  prophecy  words  and  expressions  that  remind  one 
of  both  Isaiah  and  Micah,  the  leading  thought,  the  sub- 
mission of  the  surrounding  nations  to  Jehovah,  is  not 
only  foreign  to  both,  but  much  later  than  either  of 
them.  It  is  therefore  suggested  that  the  passage  is  a 
post-Exilic  addition  to  the  text  of  Micah,  whence  it  was 
finally  borrowed  for  the  purpose  that  it  now  serves,  — 
to  relieve  the  severity  of  the  denunciations  immediately 
following.*  Who  was  the  original  author,  it  seems  im- 
possible to  determine. f  Whoever  he  was,  he  had  faith 
in 'the  future  of  the  Hebrew  religion;  and,  although 
when  he  wrote,  it  was  doubtless  in  eclipse,  he  looked 
for  its  triumph,  finally  (lit.  at  the  end  of  days),  i.e.,  not 
at  the  end  of  time  {A  V),  or  of  the  Jewish  dispensation 
(Henderson),  but  at  the  end  of  the  current  period  (Hos. 
iii.  4f.).  In  that  happier  hereafter  the  mountain  of 
Jehovah,  \  the  height  on  which  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 

*  Lagarde's  suggestion,  that  it  once  closed  the  first  chapter,  is  unlikely, 
since  v.  5  was  evidently  intended  to  connect  it  with  what  follows. 

t  Hitzig  attributed  it  to  Joel ;  and  one  may  still  do  so  without  incon- 
sistency, if,  unlike  Hitzig,  but  like  many  modern  critics,  one  place  Joel 
among  the  latest  of  the  prophets.     See  Cheyne,  IB  I,  12. 

%  The  text  has  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  the  Septuagint  the 
mountain  of  the  lord  (Jehovah),  and  the  house  of  God.  Duhm  adopts  the 
latter  reading,  only  adding  an  our  before  God.  It  is  very  doubtful,  how- 
ever, if  he  has  gone  far  enough,  although  he  seems  to  have  taken  the  right 
direction  ;   for  he  is  obliged  to  reckon  the  first  clause  of  the  verse  as  the 


112  ISAIAH.  [II.  2,  3 

stood,  is  to  be  established ;  firmly  placed,  so  that  it  can- 
not be  robbed  of  its  prominence,  at  the  head,  —  not  on 
the  top  (Vitringa)  —  of  the  mountains,  overtopping  all 
the  rest.  The  phrase  has  been  taken  literally,  as  if  the 
author  expected  that  one  day  Zion  would  really  become 
the  highest  of  mountains,  and  Eze.  xl.  2  and  Zee.  xiv.  io 
have  been  quoted  in  favor  of  such  an  interpretation  ; 
but  Ps.  xl.  3/2  and  lxviii.  16/15  f.  show  that,  to  the 
Hebrew,  the  physical  elevation  of  the  site  of  the  temple 
was  not  necessary  to  its  preeminence  as  a  sanctuary.  It 
is  better,  therefore,  to  interpret  the  passage  figuratively, 
supposing  it  to  contain  an  allusion  to  the  practice  among 
the  heathen  of  locating  the  homes  of  their  gods  on  moun- 
tains (xiv.  13).  Thus  the  meaning  would  be  that,  in  the 
days  to  come,  the  fame  of  Jehovah  will  become  so  great 
as  to  eclipse  that  of  all  other  divinities,  and  attract  uni- 
versal attention.  Then  shall  all  the  nations  —  Micah, 
simply  peoples  —  stream  like  a  river,  constantly  and  in 
great  numbers,  to  it.  The  first  sentence  of  v.  3  com- 
pletes the  parallelism. 

3.  The  peoples  are  stimulated  by  one  another  to  this 
pilgrimage  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  hitherto  the 
national  God  of  Israel ;  and  they  declare  their  purpose 
in  making  it.  They  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  not,  primarily 
at  least,  to  sacrifice  or  to  perform  any  other  religious 
rite,  but  that  he  may  teach  them,  through  his  servants, 
of  his  ways  ;  a  share  of  that  which  is  to  be  learned  there 

first  line  of  a  tetrastich,  whereas  the  principle  of  parallelism  and  the  analogy 
of  xii.  I,  indicate  that  it  should  be  regarded  simply  as  an  introduction  to  the 
poem  proper.  It  is  better  to  transpose  the  phrase  and  the  house  of  our 
Go d  with  the  one  following,  thus  producing  a  perfectly  symmetrical  distich 
with  a  prose  introduction.     See  the  translation. 


II.3,4]  COMMENTS.  113 

concerning  the  ways  in  which  he  requires  his  worshippers 
to  go,  and  in  which  they  find  security  and  happiness. 
Their  purpose  is  a  practical  one :  that  they  may  walk  in 
his  paths,  for  introduces  a  reason  given,  not  by  the 
prophet  (Delitzsch),  in  whose  mouth  such  a  statement 
would  be  comparatively  tame,  but  by  the  pilgrims.  See 
xlv.  14  f.  The  reason  given  is,  that  from  Zion,  as  from 
no  other  shrine,  goeth  forth,  like  a  stream  from  its 
source,  instruction ;  the  direction  for  which  one  looks  to 
the  Deity,  and  which  one  finds  in  the  word  of  Jehovah 
alone.  Comp.  Henry.  This  is  a  state  of  things  that 
Isaiah  cannot  have  foretold.  He  hoped  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  Hebrews  and  the  restoration  of  the  glory  of 
the  best  period  (i.  26 ;  ix.  6/7 ;  xi.  9),  but  not  for  the 
universal  prevalence  of  the  Hebrew  religion.  That  idea 
was  a  later  development.  See  xlii.  6 ;  lvi.  1  ff. ;  xix. 
iSff.;  etc. 

4.  When  men  become  thus  eager  to  know  God's  will 
he  will  reveal  it  to  them.  He  will  judge  between  the 
nations ;  through  his  inspired  servants  act  as  arbiter 
among  them,  and  thus  prevent  them  from  resorting  to 
violence  and  bloodshed.  Then,  having  no  further  use 
for  arms,  they  will  beat  their  swords  into  mattocks,*  the 
implements  with  which  the  vineyards  especially  were 
cultivated;  and  their  spears,  strictly,  of  course,  spear- 
heads, into  pruning  knives.     In  a  word,  the  instruments 


*  This  is  the  meaning  given  to  DTK  by  the  Jewish,  and  some  Christian, 
authorities.  Others,  following  the  versions,  render  it  ploughshares  (Nagels- 
bach);  and  still  others  coulters  (Henderson).  The  former  of  these  ren- 
derings seems  forbidden  by  1  Sam.  xiii.  20  f.;  to  the  latter  there  is  the 
objection  that  the  Hebrews  do  not  seem  to  have  used  coulters.  On  the 
Syrian  plough,  see  Van  Lennep,  BL,  75  f.;  but  especially  ZDPV,  IX.  24 ff. 


114  ISAIAH.  [II.  4,  5 

of  war  are  to  be  transformed  into  the  implements  of 
peace :  and  that,  not  for  a  brief  period,  but  once  for  all ; 
for  men  are  not  to  learn  war  any  more.  Comp.  Joel 
iv.  io. 

In  Mic.  iv.  i  ff.  the  picture  is  more  complete,  for  there 
the  reader  is  informed  that  "  they  shall  sit  every  one 
under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree,  and  there  shall  be 
none  to  terrify."  There,  also,  the  prophecy  has  a 
formal  conclusion  in  the  words  "  for  the  mouth  of  Jeho- 
vah hath  spoken." 

This  is  the  way  in  which  the  one  by  whom  the  para- 
graph was  inserted,  sought  to  prepare  the  Jews  of  his 
time  for  the  words  of  Isaiah,  preserved  in  this  and  the 
two  following  chapters,  concerning  the  Israel  of  the 
eighth  century  B.C.  The  words  themselves  he  repro- 
duced because  he  felt  that  they  contained  a  message  to 
his  own  generation  also,  that 

(2)  A  Separation  of  the  Unworthy  (ii.  5-iv.  i)  —  must 
still  precede  the  realization  of  the  hopes  that  he  cher- 
ished for  his  people  and  their  religion.  They  therefore 
have  a  twofold  meaning.  One  must  recognize  both, 
always  remembering,  however,  that  the  genuine  words 
of  Isaiah  can  have  but  one  complete  application,  and 
that  this  can  only  be  discovered  by  a  study  of  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  they  were  first  uttered. 

Turning  now  to  the  words  themselves,  one  finds,  to 
start  with,  a  description  of 

(a)  A  General  Visitation  (ii.  5-21),  —  involving  terrible 
consequences  to  entire  Palestine ;  and,  as  the  first  topic 
under  this  general  head, 

a.    the  curse  of  prosperity  (ii.  5-1 1).  —  5.   The  first 


II.  5,  6]  COMMENTS.  115 

verse  is  evidently  an  editorial  addition.  It  was  suggested 
by  Mic.  iv.  5,  and  intended  to  connect  the  prophecy  pre- 
ceding with  the  one  that  follows.  Comp.  Orelli.  It  is 
an  exhortation  addressed  to  the  house  of  Jacob.  This 
name,  like  Israel,  is  sometimes  applied  to  Judah  (Mic. 
iii.  13  f.);  but  since  in  vv.  3  and  6  it  is  probably  to  be 
regarded  as  equivalent  to  Israel  in  the  broader  sense,  it 
is  safest  to  give  it  the  same  interpretation  in  this  connec- 
tion. See  viii.  17;  x.  20;  xiv.  1.  They  are  exhorted  to 
walk  in  the  light  of  Jehovah.  In  Mic.  iv.  5  it  is  the 
name  of  Jehovah  in  which  they  are  to  walk.  The 
thought,  however,  is  one.  They  are  to  recognize  Jeho- 
vah as  their  God  and  accept  his  will,  the  instruction  by 
which  v.  3  represents  their  neighbors  as  being  desirous 
of  profiting,  as  the  law  of  their  conduct  (Prv.  vi.  23). 
Comp.  Nagelsbach.  The  same  figure  is  elsewhere  used 
of  the  helpful  interposition  of  Jehovah  (ix.  1/2;  x.  17). 
6.  The  prophet  begins  abruptly.  One  would  expect, 
after  But  (lit.  for),  something  like,  ye  have  deserted  Jeho- 
vah, making  a  perfect  antithesis  with  v.  5.  That  which 
actually  follows  is,  thou  hast  cast  off  thy  people,  and  then 
the  reasons  for  their  rejection.  The  strangeness  of  the 
order  of  thought  has  given  rise  to  various  conjectures 
involving  a  change  in  the  text  or  its  interpretation,  none 
of  which  is  satisfactory.*  The  difficulty  yields  in  part  if 
the  preceding  verses  are  for  the  time  being  ignored,  and 


*  Some,  following  Saadia,  retain  the  present  text,  but  interpret  thou  as 
addressed  to  the  people,  and  thy  people  as  meaning  thy  national  character 
(Luzzatto).  Others,  with  the  Septuagint,  change  the  text  to  lttl?  U'ul,  he 
hath  cast  off  his  people;  Duhm  with  the  addition  of  .Tin*,  Jehovah. 
Finally,  Lagarde  suggests  the  substitution  of  rCU*wj,  hath  cast  thee  off,  for 
PintPBS,  thou  hast  cast  off. 


116  ISAIAH.  [II.  6,  7 

it  is  removed  entirely  by  supposing  that  they  were  sub- 
stituted for  the  original  beginning  of  the  prophecy,  be- 
cause, the  prophet  continues,  they  were  full  of  diviners.* 
The  term  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament  to  include  all 
who,  by  other  means  than  the  genuine  prophetic  gift, 
seek  a  knowledge  of  the  future  (Deu.  xviii.  io ;  Mic.  iii. 
7);  but  in  a  narrower  sense  it  designates  those  who,  like 
the  famous  witch  of  Endor  (i  Sam.  xxviii.  8  ff.),  have  to 
do  with  spirits  (viii.  19).  The  augurers  (lit.  becloudcrs), 
i.e.,  originally,  rain-makers,  were  a  species  of  diviners 
who  professed  to  find  hidden  meanings  in  natural  phe- 
nomena (Deu.  xviii.  10,  14;  2  Kgs.  xxi.  6).  They  also, 
in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  prophets,  had  multiplied 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  Hebrews  were  overrun  with 
them,  like  the  Philistines,  who  had  no  genuine  prophets 
(1  Sam.  vi.  2).  J  The  remainder  of  the  verse  is  difficult, 
but  it  ought  to,  and  probably  does,  mean,  and  with  sons 
of  strangers,  foreigners,  including  the  diviners  just  men- 
tioned, they  abounded ;  doubtless  as  a  result  of  the  inti- 
mate relations  that  existed  between  the  Hebrews  and 
the  neighboring  peoples. 

7.  Another  result  of  increased  intercourse  with  the 
outside  world  was  a  great  increase  in  the  wealth  of  the 

*  The  text  has  0~fpfc,  from  the  East,  and  this  reading  has  the  support 
of  the  versions  ;  but  there  are  so  many  and  serious  objections  to  it  that  it 
is  undoubtedly  mistaken.  The  following  are  among  the  emendations  that 
have  been  suggested:  EDpp,  of  divination  (Brenz),  ECp!2,- divination 
(Bottcher);  E"!p'P  DEpE,  divination  from  the  East  (Lowth) ;  CDp 
Dipi2,  divination  from  the  East  (Dclitzsch) ;  and  D"ipB  'EEp,  diviners 
from  the  East  (Duhm) ;  but  none  of  these  is  so  satisfactory  as  D*£Cp, 
diviners  (Krochmal),  with  D'MIJ,  augurers,  in  the  same  construction,  as 
rhythmical  and  grammatical  considerations  alike  would  lead  one  to  expect. 

t  On  divination  among  the  Hebrews,  see  Smith,  DB,  art.  divination  ; 
Riehm,  IIBA,  art.  Wahrsager. 


II.  7,  8]  COMMENTS.  117 

country.  It  flowed  into  Judah  from  the  East  by  way  of 
Elath  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  6;  2  Chr.  xxvi.  2).  There  is  nothing 
to  indicate  the  precise  source  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  but  the  amount  of  the  price  paid 
by  Menahem  for  the  support  of  his  Assyrian  ally,  a 
thousand  talents  of  silver  (2  Kgs.  xv.  19),  shows  that 
his  land  also  was  full  of  silver  and  gold.*  The  further 
statement,  that  there  was  no  end  to  their  (lit.  his  f)  treas- 
ures, is  of  course  a  harmless  hyperbole.  The  abun- 
dance of  horses  and  chariots  also  harmonizes  with  what 
is  known  from  the  scanty  records  of  the  period.  They 
were  necessary  to  the  military  operations  in  which  the 
rulers  of  both  kingdoms  were  more  or  less  constantly 
engaged  (2  Kgs.  xv.  37;  2  Chr.  xxvii.  5  ff. ).  The 
prophet,  true  to  the  traditions  of  his  people  (Deu.  xvii. 
16;  Mic.  v.  9/10),  condemned  them.  They  were  a  sign 
of  lack  of  faith  in  Jehovah  (Deu.  xx.  1). 

8.  There  were  less  mistakable  indications  of  disloy- 
alty. The  land  was  full  of  idols  (lit.  nothings  %),  the 
lifeless,  helpless,  worthless  gods  of  their  neighbors. 
These  false  divinities  always  had  a  strange  fascination 
for  the  Hebrews,  and  the  tendency  to  stray  after  them 
was  doubtless  favored  by  the  high-places,  which  even 
the  good  kings  Uzziah  and  Jotham  did  not  abolish  (2 
Kgs.  xv.  3  f.,  34  f.).  According  to  the  prophet  the  fact 
that  these  idols  were  the  work  of  their  hands  made  the 
worship  of  them  ridiculous. 

*  On  the  tense  of  the  verb,  see  Ges.  §111,4  (2)  a- 

t  On  the  use  of  the  singular  for  the  plural  in  suffixes,  see  Ges.  §  145, 
5,  R. 

\  In  the  original  there  is  a  play  upon  the  word  ba,  God,  which  cannot 
well  be  reproduced  in  English. 


US  ISAIAH.  [II.  9,  io 

9.  What,  now,  is  to  be  expected  as  the  result  of  this 
vast  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  this  ceaseless  multi- 
plication of  idols?  It  was  doubtless  the  general  opinion 
among  those  to  whom  the  prophecy  was  addressed  that 
the  future  was  to  be  like  the  present,  only  much  more 
abundant.  The  prophet  sees  otherwise.  Therefore,*  he 
concludes,  shall  man,f  the  creature,  be  humbled  ;  %  pros- 
trated before  his  offended  God.  Comp.  Henry.  Indeed, 
he  is  so  thoroughly  convinced,  not  only  of  the  certainty 
of  their  humiliation,  but  of  the  justice  of  it,  that  his 
prediction  becomes  a  prayer :  nor  show  them  favor ! 
make  their  overthrow  complete  (xxii.  14).  § 

10.  Finally,  as  if  addressing  each  of  them  individually, 
he  cries  :  Go  into  the  rock,  i.e.,  the  clefts  in  it,  ||  and  hide 
thyself  in  the  ground,  i.e.,  the  cisterns  and  other  open- 
ings in  the  earth.  Palestine  abounds  in  such  hiding- 
places.  They  have  always  been  the  refuge  of  its  people 
when  defeated  or  oppressed  (Jud.  vi.  2  ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  6). 
Comp.  Kay.  That  from  which  they  are  to  hide  them- 
selves is  the  dreadful  presence  (lit.  the  face  of  terror)  of 
Jehovah,  when  he  comes  to  execute  judgment  upon  his 
apostate  people.  The  last  words  of  the  verse  recur  in 
vv.  19  and  21  with  the  addition  of,  when  he  ariseth  to 

*  On  this  use  of  the  ivaw  consecutive,  see  Ges.  §  m,  3,  b;   Dri.  §82. 

t  In  Ps.  xlix.  3/2  D1K  and  w"K  are  contrasted  in  the  meanings  low  and 
high ;  but  here,  as  appears  from  the  repetition  of  the  thought  in  a  more 
expanded  form  in  v.  11,  the  words  are  synonymous,  denoting  man  as  con- 
trasted with  his  Maker.     Comp.  Delitzsch. 

%  On  PUT,  see  Ges.  §  67,  R.  3. 

§  See  Ges.  §  109,  1,  /;,  R.  2  ;  Dri.  §  57.  The  Septuagint  seems  to  have 
read  Xi".'K  CXI,  and  I  will  not  show  favor.     Comp.  Dulim. 

||  Winckler,  AU,  176,  derives  1*"»2  from  1*»2,  be  hidden,  and  renders 
it  hiding-place.     See  Jer.  xxxiii.  3. 


II.  10-12]  COMMENTS.  119 

terrify  the  earth.  This  verse  doubtless  originally  ended 
in  the  same  way.  Perhaps  the  missing  words  were 
dropped,  when  the  parts  of  which  the  prophecy  in  its 
present  form  is  composed  were  united,  to  prevent  two 
refrains  from  coming  together.*  At  any  rate,  the  pres- 
ent text  requires  that  the  strophe  should  end  with  the 
next  verse. 

ii.  This  refrain,  which  recurs  in  a  slightly  different 
form  in  v.  \y,\  first  repeats  the  thought  of  v.  9,  and  then 
places  over  against  it  the  prediction,  that  Jehovah  alone 
shall  be  exalted,  recognized  as  transcending  everything 
human,  in  that  day,  the  day  of  Jehovah,  the  day  of 
retribution.  This  closing  phrase  is  a  favorite  one  with 
Isaiah  and  the  author  of  Zee.  xii.-xiv. 

The  refrain  just  quoted  threatens  the  haughty  sinners 
in  Israel  with  humiliation.  The  strophe  which  follows 
is  a  description  of  the  catastrophe.  They  are  to  be 
involved  in 

/?.  A  GENERAL  OVERTHROW  {w.     \2-\j\  12.  The 

prophet  announces  that  Jehovah  hath  a  day,  a  fixed 
term  beyond  which  what  he  purposes  will  not  be  post- 
poned, for  everything  that  is  high  and  lofty,  including 
not  only  the  persons  who  have  offended  him  by  their 
haughtiness,  but  even  the  inanimate  objects  by  which 
they  might  be  symbolized.     Thus  only  can  he  adequately 

*  The  most  satisfactory  analysis  of  this  chapter  is  that  of  Duhm,  who 
has  shown  that  it  consists  of  four  fragments:  1-5,  6-10,  11-17,  and  18-21, 
and  that  the  second  and  fourth  of  these  fragments  belong  to  the  same 
prophecy.     Comp.  FBrown,  JBL,  1890,  I.  86  f. 

t  The  form  here  found  looks  like  the  work  of  a  careless  copyist  with 
v.  15  in  mind.  On  the  difficulties  of  the  text,  see  Ges.  §§  146,  I;  112, 
3;   Dri.  §132;   comp.  Duhm. 


120  ISAIAH.  [II.  12-15 

rebuke  human  presumption  and  manifest  his  own  maj- 
esty. Comp.  Barnes.  Everything  of  the  kind  shall 
be  abased.  There  follows  a  catalogue  of  objects  that 
attract  attention  or  admiration  by  their  height. 

13.  The  first  to  be  mentioned  are  the  cedars  of  Leb- 
anon, the  largest  trees  with  which  the  Hebrews  were 
acquainted  (1  Kgs.  iv.  33;  Ps.  xcii.  12).  They  were 
once  abundant  in  the  mountains  of  Lebanon,  where 
Solomon  had  them  cut  for  the  wood-work  of  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem  (1  Kgs.  v.  6).  Remnants  of  this  ancient 
forest  exist  in  various  places.  The  best-known  grove  is 
the  one  near  Bsherreh,  northeast  of  Beirut.  It  consists 
of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  trees,  some  of  which 
are  seventy-five  or  eighty  feet  in  height,  and  from  thirty 
to  thirty-five  feet  in  circumference.  See  Thomson,  LB, 
III.  261  ff.  With  the  cedars  are  associated  the  oaks  of 
Bashan,  noted  for  their  strength  as  well  as  their  height 
(Am.  ii.  9).  Tristram  (NHB,  369)  describes  one  growing 
at  Libbeiyah,  near  Mt.  Hermon,  as  thirty-seven  feet  in 
circumference,  with  foliage  having  a  circumference  of 
ninety-one  yards.  Trees  of  this  sort  abound  throughout 
the  region  east  of  the  Jordan.  These  giants  are  to  be 
laid  low,  when  the  fury  of  Jehovah,  like  a  tempest, 
sweeps  over  the  land  (Ps.  xxix.   5). 

14.  Even  the  mountains  and  the  hills  will  tremble  and 
dissolve  before  him  (Jud.  v.  5  ;  Mic.  i.  3  f . ;  Nah.  i.  5). 

15.  But  if  these  his  own  greatest  works  cannot  endure 
his  presence,  how  much  less  the  strongest  structures 
reared  by  man !  every  high  tower,  such  as  Uzziah  and 
Jotham  built  to  protect  their  kingdom  (2  Chr.  xxvi.  9  f. ; 
xxvii.  4),  must  fall  in  ruins ;  also  every  strong  wall  (2 
Chr.  xxvii.  3). 


II.  i6,  17]  COMMENTS.  121 

16.  ships  of  Tarshish  were  large  ships,  built  for  long 
voyages,  so  called  from  Tarshish,  or  Tartessus,  a  large 
town  or  district  in  Spain  outside  the  strait  of  Gibraltar, 
one  of  the  remote  places  visited  by  Phoenician  traders. 
Such  ships  were  despatched  from  Elath,  on  the  Red 
Sea,  in  the  reigns  of  Uzziah  and  Jotham  (2  Kgs.  xiv.  22). 
Isaiah  pictures  them  overtaken  by  the  same  tempest  by 
which  the  land  is  to  be  devastated,  and  dismantled,  if 
not  entirely  destroyed  (Jon.  i.  3  f.).  With  these  ancient 
East-Indiamen  are  associated  sources  of  delight  whose 
identity  it  is  difficult  to  discover.  They  are  probably 
not  the  pennons  (Gesenius)  or  other  decorations  (Vit- 
ringa)  of  the  ships  just  mentioned ;  the  palaces  of  the 
rich  (Targum) ;  or  commanding  look-outs  (Ewald) ;  or 
precious  objects  in  general  (Knobel);  but  delightful 
figures,  objects  of  art,  including  the  statues  of  false 
deities,  with  which  the  rich  adorned  their  houses  and 
gardens.*  The  eighth  verse  says  that  the  land  was  full 
of  such  objects. 

17.  All  this,  however,  is  merely  incidental  to  the  real 
object  of  Jehovah ;  via.  that  the  loftiness  of  man,  human 
pride  in  human  power  and  possessions,  shall  be  humbled, 
and  he  himself  exalted.     See  v.  11. 

The  prophecy  might  have  ended  here,  and  perhaps 
this  third  fragment  was  originally  the  conclusion  of  a 
discourse ;  but  it  seemed  best  to  the  editor  to  whom  it 
owes  its  preservation,  that,  as  in  the  previous  chapter, 

*  This  interpretation  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  ITratP,  which  does 
not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  is  either  a  synonym  for  m*2w'!2, 
which,  in  Num.  xxxiii.  52,  means  sculptured  stones,  —  the  singular  occurs 
in  the  same  sense  in  Lev.  xxvi.  1,  —  or,  perhaps  better,  a  scribal  error  for 
the  longer  form. 


122  ISAIAH.  [II.  18-20 

the  worthlessness  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  as  refuges 
from  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  should  be  exhibited.  He 
therefore  pieced  together  the  remaining  bits  of  the 
prophecy  from  which  he  took  vv.  6-10,  and  thus  pro- 
duced a  final  strophe  on 

7.  the  useless  idols  (vv.  18-21).  —  iS.  It  begins 
with  a  half-verse  in  which  assonance  is  employed  to 
assist  the  reader's  imagination  in  realizing  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  false  gods.  Says  the  prophet :  The 
idols,  also,  shall  all  fail ;  pass  away. 

19.  Then  follows  the  refrain,  in  a  slightly  changed 
form,  of  v.  10 :  men  (lit.  they),  stripped  of  their  last 
hope,  shall  go  into  caves  in  the  rocks  and  holes  in  the 
ground,  to  hide  themselves  from  Jehovah.  These  words 
once  marked  the  end  of  a  strophe,  but  they  can  hardly 
be  intended  so  to  do  in  this  connection ;  for  v.  20  con- 
tinues the  subject  of  the  idols  as  if  nothing  had  inter- 
vened. 

20.  Isaiah,  or  better,  perhaps,  the  editor,  now  ex- 
plains what  is  to  become  of  the  idols.  A  man  will  cast 
his  idols  of  silver  and  ...  of  gold ;  those  which,  on  ac- 
count of  their  intrinsic  value,  he  will  cling  to  as  long  as 
possible;  and  which  he  hath  made  for  himself,*  —  see 
v.  8,  — to  the  moles  |  and  the  bats,  to  which  the  abodes 
of  men  will  be  left  by  their  terrified  tenants.  Comp. 
Delitzsch. 

*  Hitzig  explains  1DU  as  a  plural,  indicating  that  the  production  of  an 
idol  requires  a  number  of  workmen  (xli.  7).  Lagarde  reads  it  'Z'V.  The 
form  found  in  the  text,  like  linnST,  v.  8,  however,  seems  sufficiently  ex- 
plained by  the  freedom  of  Hebrew  writers  in  their  treatment  of  collectives. 
See  Ges.  §  145,  5,  R. 

t  The  two  forms  rVHS  ISnb  are  to  be  read  as  one  word,  rYHS~l£!T?, 
from  "IDn,  dig. 


II.  2i,  22]  COMMENTS.  123 

2i.  The  idols  arc  left  behind,  that  their  owners  may 
the  more  quickly  go  into  the  rents  of  the  rocks  and 
.  .  .  the  clefts  of  the  cliffs,  says  Isaiah,  again  resorting 
to  assonance  to  produce  a  third  form  of  the  now  famil- 
iar refrain,  with  which  the  strophe  and  the  prophecy 
close. 

In  the  second  of  the  group  of  the  prophecies  now 
under  examination  the  prophet  sets  forth  in  greater 
detail 

{V)  The  Portion  of  Judah  (ii.  22-iv.  i)  —  in  the 
retribution  which  he  sees  approaching.  He  gives  his 
first  attention  to 

a.  the  pillars  of  society  (ii.  22-iii.  7). —  22.  The 
section  opens  with  a  warning,  which,  as  the  text  is  now 
arranged,  closes  the  second  chapter,  but  which,  if  it  is 
to  be  retained,*  should  begin  the  third.  Trust  no  longer, 
it  says,  in  man  that  breatheth  (lit.  man  in  zvhose  nose  is 
breathX  The  last  phrase  is  usually  interpreted  as  a 
reason  why  man  is  not  to  be  relied  upon  (Hitzig);  but 
this  interpretation  is  surely  mistaken.  The  breath,  ac- 
cording to  the  Hebrews,  was  the  equivalent  of  life: 
when  Jehovah  breathed  into  the  first  man's  nostrils  the 
result  was  a  living  being  (Gen.  ii.  7).  Accordingly,  in 
such  passages  as  Deu.  xx.  16,  "every  breath"  is  every 
living  thing,  and  in  Gen.  vii.  22,  the  phrase,  "all  in 
whose  nostrils  is  the  breath  of  the  spirit  of  life,"  has 
the  same  meaning.  In  ivhose  nose  is  breath,  therefore, 
must  mean,  as  it  is  rendered  above,  that  breatheth,  i.e., 

*  The  reasons  for  suspecting  its  genuineness  are:  (i)  that  it  has  no 
connection  with  what  precedes,  and  little  with  what  follows  ;  and  (2)  that 
it  does  not  appear  in  the  Septuagint.     Comp.  Dillmann. 


124  ISAIAH.  [II.  22-111.  2 

lives ;  and  the  sentence  should  be  understood  as  a 
warning  against  putting  one's  confidence  in  any  human 
being.  The  reason  follows.  It  is  not  that  he  breathes, 
but  that,  although  he  breathes,  he  is  powerless  against 
Him,  the  breath  of  whose  nostrils  lays  bare  the  founda- 
tions of  the  world  (Ps.  xviii.  16/15).  This  is  the  force 
of  the  question,  what  is  he  to  be  accounted  ?  Comp. 
Skinner. 

iii.  1.  Such  a  warning  clearly  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  subject  of  idols  ;  nor  can  it  be  said  to  be  a  suitable 
introduction  to  the  prediction  that  follows,  since  this 
latter  implies  a  very  different  attitude  toward  human 
supports.  The  author  warns  the  Jews,  not  that  they 
are  not  to  lean  on  anything  human,  but  that  they  are 
to  be  deprived  of  every  staff  *  of  this  sort  on  which  they 
have  hitherto  naturally  leaned.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  although,  as  above  suggested,  one  of  the  passages 
was  intended  to  introduce  the  other,  the  second  only 
can  be  attributed  to  Isaiah.  The  remainder  of  this 
verse,  also,  must  be  pronounced  ungenuine,  because  it 
disturbs  the  evident  thought  of  the  prophet  with  its 
staff  of  bread  and  staff  of  water,  material  instead  of 
personal  supports.  It  is  without  doubt  a  mistaken 
comment  on  the  text  suggested  by  some  such  passage 
as  Lev.  xxvi.  26.     Comp.  Kay. 

2.  The  pillars  of  Jewish  society  are  now  enumerated. 
By  the  hero  and  soldier  are  meant  the  champion  or 
leader  in  war  (1  Sam.  xvii.  21  ;  2  Sam.  xxiii.  8  ff.)  and 
his  less  renowned  follower  (Eze.  xxxix.  20).  To  them, 
together  with  the  captain  (lit.  of  fifty),  or  simple  officer 
(2  Kgs.  i.  9  ff.),  of  the  next  verse,  was  confided  the  de- 

*  On  the  construction  see  Ges.  §  122,  4,  c,  R. 


III.  2,  3]  COMMENTS.  125 

fence  of  the  country  against  its  enemies.  On  the  judge 
and  the  elder  rested  the  duty  of  protecting  the  people 
against  one  another.  The  prophet  and  the  diviner  are 
coupled  together,  not  because  in  Isaiah's  eyes  they  were 
alike  worthy  or  unworthy  of  confidence,  but  because 
they  were  actually  depended  upon  to  supply  a  recog- 
nized need  in  his  time.     Comp.  Mic.  iii.  6  f.* 

3.  The  favorite  on  whose  hand  the  king  leaned 
(2  Kgs.  v.  1,  18),  and  the  counsellor,  on  whose  advice 
he  depended  (i.  26;  2  Sam.  xv.  23),  of  course,  could 
not  be  omitted ;  nor,  in  view  of  their  recognized  impor- 
tance in  the  community,  the  magician  (lit.  wise  in  arts)  \ 
and  the  conjurer  (lit.  skilled  in  whispering).  To  them 
the  people  resorted  for  spells,  potions,  amulets,  and 
countless  other  inventions  of  ancient  superstition  (v.  20). 
How  these  various  classes  of  society  are  to  be  removed, 
Isaiah  does  not  here  intimate.  If  he  included  in  the 
term  prophet  genuine  messengers  of  Jehovah,  he  proba- 
bly expected  that  they  would  cease  to  be  sent  (Am.  viii. 
1 1  f.).  The  rest  would  be  killed  or  carried  into  captiv- 
ity by  enemies  to  be  commissioned  against  them.  In 
cases  of  deportation  it  was  always  the  upper  classes 
that  suffered  (2  Kgs.  xxiv.  14  ff.). 

*  It  is  useless,  with  Rosenmuller,  to  try  to  fasten  upon  <2Ep  any  other 
meaning  than  that  of  diviner  ;  nor,  although  the  omission  of  the  priest  is 
surprising,  is  there  really  any  good  ground  for  supposing,  with  Breden- 
kamp,  that  this  word  is  a  scribal  error  for  jrQ. 

f  These  words  have  often  been  interpreted  as  meaning  the  artisan,  and 
this  interpretation  has  the  support  of  the  ancient  versions;  but  (i)  the  appli- 
cation of  the  Syriac  word  corresponding  to  CUHPI  to  magic,  (2)  the  appear- 
ance of  the  conjurer  in  the  next  phrase,  and  (3)  the  omission  of  any  fur- 
ther reference  to  the  trades  practised  at  the  tim#*  make  it  more  probable 
that  the  arts  here  meant  are  the  arts  of  the  magician.     Comp.  Delitzsch. 


126  ISAIAH.  [III.  4-6 

4.  The  removal  of  those  who  have  knowledge  of 
affairs  civil  and  military  will  leave  the  country  at  the 
mercy  of  boys,  if  not  in  years,  at  least  in  experience 
and  disposition.  Having  no  character,  they  will  use 
their  power  or  authority  for  the  execution  of  their  ca- 
prices. Thus  the  people  will  become  the  sport  of  their 
rulers.*  This  is  not,  as  has  been  supposed  (Delitzsch), 
a  picture  of  the  reign  of  Ahaz.  That  ruler  was,  indeed, 
a  comparatively  young  man  when  he  came  to  the  throne 
(2  Kgs.  xvi.  2),  and  he  may,  like  Rehoboam  (1  Kgs. 
xii.  8),  have  chosen  young  men  for  his  advisers;  but 
it  is  certain  that  he  did  not  commence  his  reign  under 
any  such  circumstances  as  are  here  described,  and  the 
completion  of  the  picture  will  only  make  this  fact  more 
apparent.  Yet  the  date  of  the  prophecy  is  probably 
not  later  than  the  accession  of  this  king. 

5.  The  prophet  proceeds  with  his  disheartening  de- 
scription. The  example  of  the  princes  will  be  followed 
by  the  people.  They  will  be  harassed,  one  by  another, 
might  having  become  the  only  standard  of  justice.  The 
natural  claims  of  age  and  merit  will  no  longer  be  re- 
spected :  they  will  assail,  the  boy  the  elder,  and  the 
base  the  honorable.  To  such  lengths  will  the  lower 
classes  go,  when  the  restraints  of  government  are  re- 
moved, and  their  baser  natures  allowed  to  assert  them- 
selves. 

6.  When  matters  have  come  to  this  pass  there  will 
surely  be  an  effort   to   mend    them.     Anarchy   finally 

*  Duhm  translates  this  sentence :  abuses  shall  rule  over  them ;  and 
Orelli :  childish  pranks  shall  rule  over  them.  The  rendering  above  adopted 
is  not  so  exact,  but  it  will  probably  be  found  exact  enough,  and  much  more 
intelligible  than  those  cited. 


III.  6,  7]  COMMENTS.  127 

becomes  intolerable  even  to  anarchists.  This  longing 
for  order  will  manifest  itself  when  one  layeth  hold  of 
another,  with  eager,  desperate  violence,  in  the  house 
of  his  father,  the  ancestral  dwelling  in  which  he  has 
taken  refuge.  It  is  probably  the  intention  of  the 
prophet  to  represent  the  person  sought  as  a  survivor 
of  the  better  class  of  citizens.  Therefore  his  visitor  is 
made  to  say :  Thou  hast  a  mantle,  the  outer  garment 
which,  under  ordinary  circumstances  every  one  was 
supposed  to  possess  (Ex.  xxii.  26),  thereby  implying 
that,  at  this  time,  the  possession  of  one  constitutes  a 
distinction  qualifying  its  owner  to  be  a  ruler  over  his 
fellows ;  let  this  ruin,  this  lawless  condition  of  things, 
be  under  thy  control. 

7.  The  appeal  will  be  in  vain.  The  unfortunate 
patrician  will  cry  (lit.  lift  up\  protest,  I  will  not  be  a 
surgeon,  to  bind  up  the  wounds  of  the  State.  The 
figure  is  changed,  but  the  change  is  not  so  surprising 
as  it  would  have  been  had  this  second  one  not  already 
(i.  6)  been  used  by  Isaiah.  Comp.  Reuss.  Then  he 
will  give  the  reason  for  his  refusal :  in  my  house  is 
neither  bread  nor  mantle ;  I  am  as  poor  as  the  poorest 
of  you.  The  force  of  the  reason  given  becomes  appar- 
ent, when  one  remembers  that  the  ruler  of  Isaiah's  day 
was  expected,  not  only  to  perform  his  duties  for  noth- 
ing, but  to  be  generous  toward  those  over  whom  he 
exercised  authority.  This  confession  of  poverty  is 
therefore  naturally  followed  by  a  repetition  of  the  re- 
fusal to  be  a  ruler  of  the  people.  The  place  offered  is 
not  that  of  king  (Duhm),  for  the  throne  is  not  vacant 
{v.  4),  but  of  one  of  the  local  magnates  to  whom  the 
preservation  of  order  was  committed. 


128  ISAIAH.  [III.  8,  9 

A  penalty  so  severe  as  that  just  described  requires 
justification.  The  prophet,  therefore,  in  the  next  fol- 
lowing verses,  portrays 

/3.  the  defiant  rebels  {yv.  8-i  5)  —  whose  offences 
have  made  such  severity  necessary.  8.  He  resumes  the 
figure  used  in  v.  6.  He  declares  that  his  city  and  coun- 
try, like  a  breached  wall,  shall  totter  and  .  .  .  fall 
(Am.  v.  2);  because  the  inhabitants,  especially  the  rul- 
ing classes,  with  their  tongues,  in  such  speeches  as 
those  quoted  v.  19  and  xxviii.  9  f.  and  15,  and  their 
deeds,  soon  to  be  more  fully  described  {yv.  13  f.),  are 
against*  Jehovah,  rebelling  f  to  his  glorious  face  (lit. 
eyes  %);  i.e.,  persisting  in  sin  even  while  he  is  manifest- 
ing himself  in  their  personal  or  national  history,  as  their 
fathers  did  before  them  (Ex.  xxxii.  1  ff.). 

9.  They  make  no  secret  of  their  opposition  to  their 
God.  The  look  on  their  faces,  §  the  involuntary  expres- 
sion of  their  countenances,  testifieth  against  them ; 
betrays  the  attitude  of  their  hearts.  One  has  not, 
however,  to  depend  upon  such  evidence ;  their  sin,  like 
the  Sodomites,  whose  attack  upon  Lot  and  his  guests 
was  a  popular  demonstration  (Gen.  xix.  4  ff.),  they  pub- 
lish ;    practise  unblushingly  in   the   eyes   of    God   and 

*  For  bN  read  bv. 

t  msS  for  nVTlanb.  On  the  form,  see  Ges.  §  53,  3,  R.  7;  on  the  con- 
struction, §  114,  2,  R.  4. 

J  For  '317  read  "3*17,  with  many  manuscripts  and  editions.  Comp.  the 
Septuagint. 

§  This  is  the  rendering  that  best  suits  the  connection.  The  examina- 
tion of  their  faces  (Nagelsbach)  is  less  natural;  and  their  partiality  (Tar- 
gum),  although  the  idiom  D"S  "V3ri  seems  to  favor  it,  is  awkward  and 
irrelevant.  The  only  other  interpretation  that  deserves  notice  is  that 
according  to  which  mm  is  a  derivative,  not  of  "133,  but  of  "OH,  anil  means, 
as  Job  xix.  3  would  indicate,  impudence  (Vitringa). 


III.  9-12]  COMMENTS.  129 

man.  In  all  this  they  think  that  they  arc  furthering 
their  own  interests,  but  they  are  mistaken  ;  they  shall 
do  themselves  injury. 

10.  The  words  just  quoted  present  one  side  of  the 
doctrine  of  retribution.  This  doctrine  is  now  more  fully 
stated  :  Blessed  *  is  the  righteous  !  it  declares,  for  the 
fruit  of  his  righteous  deeds  he  shall  eat. 

ii.  Of  the  godless,  on  the  other  hand,  it  asserts  just 
as  positively,  that  what  his  hands  have  wrought  shall  be 
repaid  him.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  material 
divergence  between  this  general,  and  the  previous  (v.  9) 
particular,  statement,  yet  it  is  not  probable  that  Isaiah 
is  the  author  of  both  of  them.  It  is  not  his  habit  to 
check  the  torrent  of  his  discourse  to  introduce  unneces- 
sary reflections,  f 

12.  From  the  future  of  the  rulers  Isaiah  returns  to  the 
present  of  the  people ;  my  people  he  calls  them,  giving 
a  touch  of  tenderness  to  this  otherwise  severe  discourse. 
To  their  rulers  he  gives  the  title  masters,  thus  recalling 
the  bitterest  period  of  their  history  as  a  people  (Ex. 
iii.  7).  These  masters  are  children.!  In  v.  4  the  con- 
trol of  the  Jews  and  their  affairs  by  boys  is  yet  future ; 
here  it  is  represented  as  already  in  the  hands  of  such 

*  ""CK  for  TT&R,  say. 

t  The  style  of  w.  10  f.,  too,  unless  the  text  is  corrupt,  betrays  the  hand 
of  an  editor.  A  ,3,  for,  should  be  supplied  before  VT\,  ill,  and  a  "O,  to  him \ 
after  both  it  and  3112,  well. 

\  The  Hebrew  word  is  singular.  Some  have  therefore  concluded  that 
"™M  is  a  pluralis  majestatis  and  rendered  it  his  governor,  i.e.,  his  king, 
(Cheyne).  The  context,  remote  (v.  4)  as  well  as  immediate,  requires  that 
the  latter  word  should  be  regarded  as  referring  to  a  class,  and  that  the 
former  should  be  explained,  either  as  a  collective  (Bottcher),  a  distributive 
(Delitzsch),  or  a  mistake  for  the  plural,  perhaps  D,77iy.  Comp.  the 
Septuagint. 


130  ISAIAH.  [III.  12-14 

persons.  There  is  some  reason,  therefore,  for  interpret- 
ing this  passage  as  referring  to  the  reign  of  Ahaz ;  and 
this  interpretation  seems  favored  by  the  mention  of 
women  as  influential  in  affairs.  When,  however,  one 
remembers  that,  for  the  state  of  things  here  described, 
the  elders  and  princes  are  to  be  called  to  account  (y.  14), 
this  fact  appears  to  indicate  that  Isaiah  is  now  speak- 
ing figuratively,  meaning  that  his  people  were  already 
governed  with  as  much  caprice  and  wantonness  as  if 
their  rulers  were  actually  boys  or  women.  The  prophet 
proceeds,  addressing  himself  to  the  people,  and  charg- 
ing, that  their  leaders,  those  by  whom  they  would  natu- 
rally expect,  when  wrong,  to  be  set  right  (i.  17),  are 
seducers,  and  that,  when  they  do  not  actually  tempt 
others  from  the  right  way,  they  efface  it ;  make  it  impos- 
sible to  find  or  to  follow  (v.  20).  Comp.  Nagelsbach. 
In  other  words,  he  tells  them  that  their  rulers  have 
demoralized  them. 

13.  This  condition  of  things  is  intolerable.  Isaiah  so 
confidently  expects  Jehovah  to  intervene  that,  to  him, 
he  already  is  arisen  to  defend  the  afflicted,  and  standeth 
ready  to  avenge  his  people*  of  their  oppressors. 

14.  Jehovah  himself  will  enter  into  a  contest  with  the 
elders  and  princes,  and  this  will  be  his  charge  against 
them :  And  ye,  whom  I  have  set  over  it,  to  guard  and 
cultivate  it  (Ps.  ii.  6),  have  cropped  the  vineyard ;  f 
ravaged  the  people  as  goats  do  a  vineyard,  when  it  is 

*  The  text  has  D'EI?,  peoples  ;  but  the  plural  is  unintelligible  in  the  con- 
nection. The  original  reading  must  have  been  1J3I7,  his  people,  which  is 
required  by  w.  12  and  15,  and  supported  by  the  Septuagint  and  the 
Peshita.  Comp.  Alexander.  On  the  meaning  of  pi,  see  Gen.  xxx.  6;  Ps. 
liv.  3/1;   etc. 

t  The  Septuagint  has  my  vineyard. 


III.  14-16]  COMMENTS.  131 

exposed  to  them  (v.  5).  Lest  the  figure  should  be  mis- 
understood, he  adds,  the  spoil  of  the  afflicted  is  in  your 
houses  (Am.  iii.  10). 

15.  The  indignation  of  Jehovah  grows  as  he  proceeds. 
Wherefore  (lit.  What  to  you  )*,  he  demands,  crush  ye  my 
people  ?  Here,  again,  the  people  of  Jehovah,  as  appears 
from  the  next  clause,  are  the  lowly.  The  rulers,  by 
their  conduct,  have  forfeited  their  claim  to  be  reckoned 
among  his  chosen.  The  intensity  of  their  cruelty  is 
expressed  by  the  statement  that  they  bruise  (lit.  grind) 
the  faces  of  the  afflicted  ;  by  their  cruelty  produce  the 
keenest  grief  in  the  hearts,  and  thus  the  utmost  distor- 
tion in  the  faces,  of  their  victims.  Com  p.  Am.  ii.  7. 
The  verse  —  and  the  paragraph  —  closes  without  any 
indication  of  the  way  in  which  these  heartless  offenders 
are  to  be  punished ;  but  the  solemn  formula,  saith  the 
Lord,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  leads  one  to  expect  the  worst. 

One  striking  parallel  to  the  prophecies  of  Amos  has 
already  been  discovered  (i.  10  ff.).  The  attack  of  Isaiah 
upon 

7.  the  wanton  women  (iii.  16-iv.  i)  —  of  Jerusalem 
furnishes  a  second  equally  unmistakable.  See  Am.  iv. 
1  ff.  16.  It  begins  with  And  Jehovah  said,  a  form  of 
expression  which  indicates  that  the  words  following  are 
a  separate  discourse,  rather  than  a  part  of  the  one  to 
which  the  rest  of  the  chapter  belongs.  The  changed 
tone  at  once  discernible  points  in  the  same  direction. 
Yet  it  is  probable  that  both  prophecies  belong  to  the 
same  period,  and  that  the  earliest ;  since  the  luxury  here 
described  tallies  best  with  the  prosperity  of  Judah  under 

*  On  the  form  E2?D,  see  Ges.  §  20,  2,  a,  R.  1;   §  37,  I,  R. 


132  ISAIAH.  [III.  16,  17 

Uzziah  and  Jotham.  the  daughters  of  Zion  are  literal, 
and  not  figurative,  women ;  and  it  seems  strange  that 
any  modern  exegete  should  have  held  the  contrary  opin- 
ion (Eichhorn),  or  tried  to  unite  the  two  (Kay).  They 
are  haughty,  and  therefore  hateful  to  Jehovah  (ii.  12  ff.); 
and  go  with  stretched*  necks,  or  high  heads,  and  blink- 
ing f  eyes,  casting  coquettish  or  immodest  glances  right 
and  left ;  a  practice  utterly  at  variance  with  the  oriental 
custom,  which  required,  and  still  requires,  ladies  to  con- 
ceal their  faces  in  public.  See  Gen.  xxiv.  65 ;  Van 
Lennep,  BL,  537  f.  They  go  trippingly, %  taking  dainty 
steps,  and  jingle  §  with  their  feet,  ||  or  rather  with  the 
ornaments  that  they  wear  on  their  ankles.  See  vv.  18 
and  20. 

17.  But  the  Lord  will  punish  their  wantonness,  bring 
baldness  \  upon  their  crowns ;  give  them  occasion  to 
shave  their  heads  in  sign  of  mourning ;  and  lay  their 
temples  **  bare  of  the  hair  in  which  they  delight  as  one 
of  their  dearest  ornaments  (v.  24). 

There  follows  a  long  catalogue  of  the  things  of  which 
the  women  of  Zion  are  to  be  deprived,  when  the  day  of 

*  On  rVTOM,  see  Ges.  §§  75,  R.  5;    128,  3. 

t  A  few  codices  have  mipw'E,  deceiving.     See  Lowth. 

\  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  113,  3,  R.  2. 

§  On  TODSUn,  see  Ges.  §  52,  2,  R.  2. 

||  On  DTbn,  see  Ges.  §  135,  5,  R.  1. 

\  For  n£">I?  the  Septuagint  and  the  Peshita  seem  to  have  read  bSV, 
humble. 

**  The  text  has  pnB,  generally  rendered  shame  ;  but,  since  a  parallel  for 
the  crowns  of  the  preceding  sentence  seems  needed,  and  the  word  ."1KB, 
side,  temple,  furnishes  such  a  parallel,  the  form  found  in  the  text  should 
probably  be  pointed  priB,  and  explained  as  a  contraction  for  priKB  or  an 
error  for  jnSB.  See  Stade,  ZA  IV,  1886,336;  also  the  versions,  especially 
the  Vulgate.     On  the  form  of  the  suffix,  see  Ges.  §  91,  I,  R.  2. 


III.  17-21]  COMMENTS.  133 

the  Lord's  vengeance  shall  have  come.  This  catalogue, 
vv.  18-23,  although  it  is  introduced  by  an  expression 
suggested  by  v.  1,  is  not  the  work  of  Isaiah  ;  for  it 
diverges  from  the  plan  of  vv.  17  and  24,  and  detains  one 
with  details  such  as  this  prophet  habitually  omitted.  It 
is  only  interesting  from  the  archaeological  standpoint.* 

18.  The  anklets  were  metal  bands,  such  as  are  still 
worn  in  Palestine,  corresponding  to  the  bracelets  for  the 
arms.  To  them  were  attached  the  chains  of  v.  20. 
The  sunlets  (Delitzsch,  frontlets)  were  bright  balls,  and 
the  moonlets  little  crescents,  hung  about  the  neck.  The 
latter  were  among  the  spoils  taken  from  the  Midianites 
by  Gideon  (Jud.  viii.  21,  26). 

19.  ear-drops,  also,  were  among  the  ornaments  of  the 
Midianites  (Jud.  viii.  26).  The  bracelets  were  in  the 
form  of  chains.  The  veils  were  light  and  gauzy,  not 
the  ordinary  covering  for  the  head. 

20.  The  ornaments  called  head-dresses  are  elsewhere 
represented  as  worn  by  men  (Ex.  xxxix.  28 ;  Isa.  lxi.  3). 
The  step-chains  attached  the  feet  one  to  the  other  and 
necessitated  a  mincing  gait  such  as  is  described  in  v.  16. 
sashes,  according  to  Jer.  ii.  32,  were  a  part  of  the  outfit 
of  a  bride.  See  also  Isa.  xlix.  18.  The  smelling-bottles 
were  doubtless  attached  to  the  girdle,  as  among  the 
Arabs.  The  amulets  were  ornaments,  usually  with  a 
magical  inscription,  which  were  supposed  at  the  same 
time  to  protect  the  wearers  against  various  sorts  of  evil 
influences.     See  Smith,  DB,  art.  Amulets. 

21.  finger-rings  were  worn  by  the    Hebrews,   as  by 

*  The  most  complete  treatment  of  this  passage  is  found  in  Schroder's 
Commeiitarius  de  vestitu  midierum  He  bra  a  rum,  Leyden,  1745.  The 
arrangement  of  it  is  discussed  at  length  by  Peters,  JBL,  1S85,  88  f. 


134  ISAIAH.  [III.  21-24 

other  orientals,  of  both  sexes  (Ex.  xxxv.  22).  The 
custom  still  prevails  in  Palestine ;  so,  also,  that  of  wear- 
ing nose-rings  (Gen.  xxiv.  47).  These  latter,  however, 
are  worn  only  by  women.  Sometimes  studs  are  substi- 
tuted for  rings,  probably  because  they  are  more  con- 
venient.    See  Van  Lennep,  BL,  531. 

22.  The  gala-robes  of  this  passage  are  the  rich  attire, 
or  better,  holiday  garments,  of  Zee.  iii.  4 ;  the  stoles,  the 
long  garments,  reaching  from  the  neck  tc  the  feet,  worn 
over  the  tunic  by  both  sexes.  It  was  one  of  the  shawls 
here  mentioned  in  which  Ruth  received  the  present  of 
grain  given  her  by  Boaz  (Ru.  iii.  15);  and  it  took  two 
purses  such  as  these  women  carried  to  hold  the  money 
out  of  which  Gehazi  swindled  Naaman  (2  Kgs.  v.  23). 

23.  The  mirrors  ( Lowth :  transparent  robes)  of  the 
time,  like  the  writing-tablets  (viii.  1),  were  plates  of 
metal.  The  former,  however,  of  course,  were  brightly 
polished.  They  were  worn  at  the  girdle.  The  garments 
called  shirts  were  worn  next  to  the  skin  by  men  as  well 
as  women.  They  are  the  linen  garments  of  Jud.  xiv. 
12  f.  turbans,  also,  were  worn  by  both  sexes  and  all 
classes  (Job  xxix.  14).  Finally,  the  mantles  were  ample 
wraps  similar  to  those  with  which  the  women  of  Pal- 
estine still  entirely  envelop  themselves,  when  they 
go  abroad.  It  was  doubtless  a  garment  of  this  kind, 
although  it  is  called  by  another  name,  with  which 
Rebecca  covered  herself  when  she  was  presented  to 
her  future  husband  (Gen.  xxiv.  65  ;  see  also  xxix.  25). 

24.  Isaiah,  again  permitted  to  speak,  at  once  reveals 
his  identity  by  plunging  into  a  series  of  antitheses : 
perfume,  spices  and  their  odors,  and  putridity,  disease 
and  its  stenches  ;    girdle,  a  work  of  the  embroiderer's 


III.  24-26]  COMMENTS.  135 

art  (Prv.  xxxi.  24),  and  rope,  any  bit  long  enough  to 
hold  together  the  rags  with  which  they  are  clothed  ; 
hair-work,*  heads  of  elaborately  dressed  hair,  and  bald- 
ness, as  a  sign  of  mourning  (Mic.  i.  16);  mantle,  a  fine, 
full  garment,  and  strip  of  hair-cloth,  also  a  sign  of 
mourning  (Am.  viii.  10);  finally,  in  the  inverse  order, 
brand,  the  mark  burned  into  the  flesh  of  slaves  and 
captives,  and  their  lost  beauty,  t 

25.  The  flow  of  the  prophet's  thought  is  again  inter- 
rupted ;  this  time  by  an  explanation  in  which  the 
daughter,  and  not  the  daughters,  of  Zion,  is  the 
object  of  the  author's  attention.  At  first  she  is  directly 
addressed :  Thy  men,  the  adult  males,  as  is  at  once 
explained,  even  thy  mighty,  the  heroes  of  v.  1,  shall 
fall  ...  in  war.  The  definiteness  of  this  statement  is 
noticeable. 

26.  The  announcement  that  follows  is  equally  unam- 
biguous, her  doors  shall  sigh  and  mourn,  for  those  who 
no  longer  go  in  and  out  of  them ;  yea,  she  shall  sit  on 
the  ground,  like  a  queen  degraded  from  her  throne 
(xlvii.  1),  despoiled.  It  means  nothing  less  than  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  But  Isaiah,  whatever  he  may 
have  thought,  has  thus  far  stopped  short  of  such 
a  prediction.  Moreover,  the  form  of  expression  used 
reminds  one  of  the  second,  rather  than  the  first,  Isaiah. 
See  xlvii.  1  ;  Hi.  2.  These  two  considerations  confirm 
the  suspicion  excited  by  the  change  of  subject,  that 
both  verses  are  additions  to  the  genuine  text.     They 

*  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  131,  2,  a. 

f  This  clause,  besides  inverting  the  order  of  the  others,  adds  an  odd  line 
to  the  verse.  These,  perhaps,  are  the  reasons  —  he  states  none  —  why 
Duhm  rejects  it.     Comp.  FBrovvn,  JBL,  1890,  I.  90. 


136  ISAIAH.  [III.  26-IV.  1 

were  probably  intended  by  their  author,  who  looked 
back  upon  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  to  bring  out  more 
clearly  what,  in  the  light  of  that  event,  was  supposed 
to  be  the  real  meaning  of  the  earlier  prophet. 

iv.  1.  The  natural,  and,  therefore,  doubtless  the  origi- 
nal, continuation  of  v.  24,  is  found  in  the  statement  that 
the  time  is  to  come  when  there  will  be  seven,  or  as  a 
modern  would  say,  a  dozen  (comp.  Zee.  viii.  23),  women 
to  one  man  ;  so  many  of  the  males  of  Judah  will  have 
been  cut  off :  and  the  former  will  lay  hold  of  the  latter, 
forgetting  the  proprieties  in  such  matters  in  their  eager- 
ness for  husbands.  The  custom  which  required,  and 
still  requires,  the  husband  to  purchase  his  wife  (Ex.  xxii. 
16;  1  Sam.  xviii.  22  ff. ;  Deu.  xxii.  28  f. ;  Van  Lennep, 
BL,  539 ff.),  is  also  to  be  reversed,  women  agreeing 
even  to  provide  their  own  bread  and  .  .  .  raiment.  The 
reason  for  their  eagerness  appears  in  the  entreaty,  take 
away  our  reproach !  the  reproach,  keenly  felt  among 
the  Hebrews  of  all  periods,  of  being  single,  and  there- 
fore childless.  For  pathetic  illustrations  of  this  senti- 
ment, see  Gen.  xxxviii.  14  and  Jud.  xi.  37  f.  :  comp. 
Duhm. 

The  case  even  of  Judah  seems  hopeless.  Those  who 
are  not  themselves  corrupt  and  violent  are  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  are,  and  there  is  apparently  no  salvation 
for  the  nation.  Still,  it  can  hardly  be  that  Isaiah  in- 
tended to  leave  the  impression  that  it  was  to  be  utterly 
destroyed.  The  tenderness  for  the  lowly  and  the  afflicted, 
which  has  several  times  shown  itself  (iii.  12,  14),  warrants 
one  in  believing  that  he  must  have  had  hopes  for  them. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  editor  of  his 


IV.  2]  COMMENTS.  137 

prophecies,  when  he  lived  and  labored,  believed  that 
the  case  of  Judah  was  not  so  desperate  as  one  would 
gather  from  the  alternate  threats  and  invectives  of  the 
preceding  chapter;  but  that,  as  Isaiah  himself  doubtless 
taught,  the  nation  was  to  survive  the  destruction  of  its 
wicked  rulers.  Hence  he  has  placed  at  the  end  of  this 
division  of  the  book  a  prophecy  concerning 

(3)  The  Rescued  Remnant  (iv.  2-6).  — 2.  It  begins  with 
the  familiar  phrase,  In  that  day,  which  has  been  reck- 
oned among  the  indications  that  the  whole  passage  is 
editorial  (Duhm).  This,  however,  is  an  unsafe  criterion; 
for  such  passages  as  Am.  ii.  16,  Hos.  i.  5,  and  Mic.  ii.  4, 
show  that  it  was  a  familiar  formula  in  Isaiah's  time,  and 
ii.  11  and  17,  that  he  himself  was  not  averse  to  using  it. 
On  the  other  hand,  see  hi.  18,  etc.  The  words  rendered 
the  growth  of  Jehovah  have  been  very  variously  inter- 
preted. The  favorite  interpretation  has  been  that  which 
makes  them  a  title  of  the  Messiah.  At  first  sight,  it 
seems  to  be  supported  by  Jer.  xxiii.  5  and  xxxiii.  15,  and 
Zee.  iii.  8  and  vi.  12,  where  "Growth,"  or,  as  it  is  ren- 
dered in  the  English  version,  "Branch,"  is  undoubtedly 
so  to  be  understood.  The  usage  in  these  passages, 
however,  must  not  be  regarded  as  decisive  for  this  case, 
if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  interpretation  in  question 
does  not  harmonize  with  the  context :  a  task  of  no  great 
difficulty.  The  verse  is  a  couplet,  constructed  on  the 
principle  that  dominates  Hebrew  poetry,  parallelism. 
Further,  it  is  a  case  of  what  is  called  synonymous  paral- 
lelism ;  for,  since  the  double  predicates  in  the  two  mem- 
bers, goodly  and  famous  in  the  first,  and  glorious  and 
beautiful  in  the  second,  correspond,  the  subjects  are  to 


133  ISAIAH.  [IV.  2 

be  considered  equivalents.  But  the  fruit  of  the  land  can 
mean  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  agricultural  prod- 
uce of  Palestine ;  hence  the  growth  of  Jehovah  must 
signify  that  which  Jehovah  shall  cause  to  spring  from 
the  sacred  soil  of  that  country.  This  interpretation  is 
confirmed  by  two  further  considerations :  In  the  first 
place,  the  word  here  used  is  apparently  a  reminiscence 
of  the  passage  in  the  second  account  of  creation,  in 
which  Jehovah  is  described  as  causing  to  grow  from  the 
ground  the  trees  that  adorned  the  garden  in  Eden  (Gen. 
ii.  9);  and,  secondly,  some  reference  to  the  material 
blessings  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  survivors  is  perfectly  in 
place  in  a  picture  of  the  new  era.  See  i.  19;  Hos.  iii. 
5  ;  etc.  On  the  other  hand,  the  use  of  the  term  growth 
as  a  name  for  the  Messiah  by  Jeremiah  and  Zechariah 
can  easily  be  explained,  if,  with  most  who  contend  for 
the  same  interpretation  here,  one  take  for  granted  that 
this  verse,  as  well  as  xi.  1,  is  Isaianic.  Both  passages 
deal  with  the  ideal  future.  In  the  latter  the  ideal  king 
is  actually  called  a  shoot  and  a  sprout.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  Jeremiah,  and  after  him  Zechariah, 
having  the  three  words  in  mind,  should  have  chosen  the 
first  used  by  Isaiah,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  he  did 
not  mean  by  it  precisely  what  he  meant  by  the  others. 
There  are  further  illustrations  in  plenty  of  such  freedom 
in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.*     The  blessing  that  Jehovah 

*  It  is  seldom  worth  while  to  recall  discarded  theories ;  but,  in  the 
present  case,  the  false  interpretations  have  been  so  many  and  various,  that 
the  mention  of  the  most  important  seems  warranted  as  illustrating  the  pos- 
sibilities of  error  in  exegesis.  The  growth  of  Jehovah  has  been  supposed 
to  mean  the  remnant,  and  the  fruit  of  the  land  either  their  descendants 
(Eichhorn),  or  the  actual  produce  of  the  soil  (Gesenius).  The  latter  is 
Jerome's  interpretation,  except  that  he  sees  in  the  remnant  the  followers 


IV.  2,  3]  COMMENTS.  139 

promises  to  bestow  is  described  in  the  most  glowing 
language.  It  is  to  be  goodly  and  famous  (lit.  for  grace 
and  honor),  decking  the  country,  and  thus  bringing  it 
honor;  glorious  and  beautiful  (lit.  for  pride  and  orna- 
ment), engendering  a  patriotic  pride  by  its  beauty :  and 
all  this  to  the  survivors  in  Israel ;  not  restored  exiles, 
but,  if  the  phrase  is  genuine,  those  who  have  escaped 
death  or  deportation  during  the  period  of  chastisement.* 
3.  This  is  more  clearly  expressed  in  the  threefold 
description,  left  in  Zion  .  .  .  spared  in  Jerusalem  .  .  . 
enrolled  to  live,  i.e.,  ordained,  destined,  to  survive  in 
Jerusalem.  The  last  of  these  expressions  is  an  allusion 
to  the  book  of  life,  in  which,  according  to  the  Hebrew 
method  of  representation,  the  names  of  those  whose 
lives  were  to  be  prolonged,  were  inscribed  (Ex.  xxxii. 
32  f. ;  Dan.  xii.  1  ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxv.  29).  When  the 
doctrine  of  the  future  life  became  established,  the  con- 
ception of  the  book  of  life  was  correspondingly  enlarged 
and  spiritualized  (Rev.   xx.    12;   etc.);   but  there  is  no 

of  Christ.  To  a  different  category  belongs  the  view  that  the  terms  em- 
ployed denote  the  Davidic  family  and  the  common  people  respectively 
(Roorda).  Then  there  are  the  various  ways  in  which  the  belief  in  the 
Messianic  character  of  the  passage  has  expressed  itself.  The  simplest  is 
the  opinion  that  each  of  these  terms  is  a  designation  for  the  Messiah 
(Delitzsch).  Some  have  gone  so  far  as  to  assert,  that,  in  the  first,  the 
doctrine  of  the  divinity,  and  in  the  second,  that  of  the  humanity,  of 
Jesus  is  revealed  (Hengstenberg).  A  less  consistent  interpretation  is  that 
according  to  which  the  growth  of  Jehovah  is  the  Messiah,  but  the  fruit  of 
the  land  the  Church,  Jewish  (Targum)  or  Christian  (Zwingli).  Finally, 
mention  should  be  made  of  a  type  of  exegesis  which  makes  both  terms 
include  all  the  blessings  of  the  Messianic  future  (Orelli),  or  the  former 
the  spiritual,  and  the  latter  the  temporal,  bestowments  in  store  for  the 
faithful  (Xagelsbach). 

*  Reuss  declares  this  last  clause  a  gloss  ;    and   in  fact  it  does  mar  the 
rhythm,  without  adding  to  the  meaning,  of  the  verse. 


140  ISAIAH.  [IV.  3,  4 

reference  to  the  future  life  in  this  passage.  Comp. 
Nagelsbach.  The  Hebrews  represented  Jehovah  as 
determining  beforehand  the  fate  of  individuals,  but  not 
without  regard  to  their  character.  In  Ps.  lxix.  29/28, 
to  be  enrolled  in  the  book  of  life  is  to  be  enrolled  among 
the  righteous.  So  here,  they  that  are  enrolled  to  live 
are  the  holy,  those  who  are  devoted  to  their  God  and 
obedient  to  his  requirements.     See  Rev.  xxi.  27.* 

4.  The  movement  of  thought  is  still  retrograde.  The 
blessing  of  v.  2  was  explained  by  the  holiness  of  v.  3 ; 
and  now  the  holiness  of  the  inhabitants  of  Zion  the  fair  f 
is  explained  by  the  cleansing  process  to  which  the  city 
is  to  be  subjected.  Her  filth,  vile  deeds,  with  their  vile 
doers,  and  her  blood,  cruel  deeds,  and  their  cruel  perpe- 
trators (i.  15),  are  to  be  removed  by  a  blast  of  judgment, 
the  divine  energy  operating  punitively,  as  in  ii.  12  ff., 
and  a  blast  of  destruction,  the  same  blast  viewed  in  its 
effect  (Ps.  xviii.  16/15  !  J°b  iv.  9).  Thus,  in  giving  ex- 
pression to  his  faith  in  the  ultimate  rescue  of  a  remnant, 
Isaiah,  if,  as  seems  the  case,  these  are  his  words,  takes 
care  to  warn  the  mass  of  his  people  that  there  is  no 
hope  for  them.  % 

*  In  the  original  this  verse  is  connected  with  the  preceding  by  the  waw 
consecutive,  which  would  naturally,  and,  in  one  view,  properly,  be  ren- 
dered and,  since  the  calling  holy  might  well  be  regarded  as  subsequent  to 
the  blessing  of  v.  2  ;  but  since  it  is  really  the  being  holy  of  which  the 
prophet  is  thinking,  and  this  must  be  regarded  as  antecedent  to  the  bless- 
ing, y^r  is  better  than  and  as  a  connective. 

t  The  text  has  n"03,  daughters  ;  but,  as  the  use  of  Jerusalem  in  the  sec- 
ond half  of  the  verse  clearly  shows,  the  original  reading  must  have  been  D3, 
daughter,  which  was  intentionally  or  unintentionally  changed  to  the  plural  so 
as  to  connect  this  with  the  preceding  prophecy.  See  iii.  17.  The  Septuagint 
remedies  the  mistake  by  associating  the  sons  with  the  daughters  of  Zion. 

\  Most  of  the  later  critics  deny  the  genuineness  of  any  part  of  this 


IV.  5]  COMMENTS.  1  1 1 

5.  Thus  far  Isaiah.  The  picture  was  completed  by 
another  hand.*  The  added  touches  are  such  as  would 
appeal  to  later  Jews.  Jehovah  is  to  create, f  in  harmony 
with  the  new  order  of  things,  over  the  whole  site  of 
Mount  Zion,  the  abode  of  Jehovah  and  the  scene  of  the 
festivals  in  his  honor,  —  which  Isaiah  counted  of  little 
importance,  —  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day,}  like  that  which 
rested  on  the  tabernacle  and  guided  the  hosts  of  Israel 
during  the  Exodus  (Num.  ix.  15  ff.),  becoming  the  glow 
of  flaming  fire,  a  luminous  cloud,  by  night  (Ex.  xl.  38 ; 

paragraph.  See  especially  Hackmann,  ZJ,  19  f. ;  but  Stade  (ZA  IV,  1884, 
149  ft.)  insists  that  vv.  2-4  are  Isaianic,  and  there  are  good  grounds  for 
this  opinion.  The  ideas  therein  presented  are  the  same,  although  they 
appear  in  an  inverse  order,  as  those  of  the  first  chapter,  and  decidedly 
different  from  those,  e.g.,  in  such  passages  as  iii.  25  f . ;  where  Jerusalem  is 
represented,  not  as  cleansed,  but  as  overthrown.  Nor,  especially  if  the 
last  two  (Hebrew)  words  of  v.  2  be  omitted  as  a  gloss,  is  there  anything 
in  the  language  justly  to  excite  suspicion.  All  this  is  virtually  admitted  by 
the  adverse  critics,  in  that,  as  will  appear  upon  an  examination  of  their 
arguments,  they  base  their  objection  to  the  whole  paragraph  on  the  lan- 
guage and  ideas  of  vv.  5  f .  See  also  Cheyne,  IB  I,  20  ff.  If  they  would 
examine  each  of  the  two  halves  of  the  prophecy  separately,  as  Stade  does, 
they  would  naturally  come  to  his  conclusion;  not,  however,  in  all  its  de- 
tails; for  Stade  supposes  that  the  order  in  vv.  2-4  has  been  reversed,  a 
hypothesis  which  the  interpretation  given  above  renders  unnecessary. 

*  The  proof  of  this  is  in  (1)  the  use  of  the  word  fcOS,  create,  which 
is  very  rare  except  in  later  Hebrew,  especially  Isa.  xl.-lxvi.;  (2)  the  al- 
lusion to  the  Priestly  rather  than  the  Jehovistic  account  of  the  Exodus, 
the  latter  of  which  always  represents  the  cloud  and  the  fire  as  in  the  form 
of  a  pillar  —  comp.  Ex.  xiii.  21  f.  with  xl.  36 ff.;  and  (3)  the  evident  inter- 
est of  the  writer  in  the  temple  and  its  worship;    comp.  i.  10  ff. 

t  Duhm  and  others,  following  the  Septuagint,  but  neglecting  the  re- 
quirements of  the  context,  read  X3%  and  come. 

X  This  is  more  euphonious  than  a  literal  rendering,  a  cloud  by  day,  and 
smoke,  of  the  text.  Some  interpreters,  neglecting  the  punctuation,  con- 
nect j«I?\  and  smoke,  with  what  follows  (Cheyne) ;  but  this  destroys  the 
balance  of  the  line,  as  does,  also,  the  omission  of  the  word  (Kautsch). 


142  ISAIAH.  [IV.  5,  6 

Num.  ix.  1 6).  In  other  words,  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
will  be  seen  and  felt  as  it  was  in  the  most  memorable 
period  of  Hebrew  history.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is 
difficult,  but  the  most  satisfactory  rendering  seems  to  be 
that  in  which  these  words  are  united  with  the  first  of  the 
next  verse,  as  follows :  yea,  over  the  whole  shall  there  be 
a  glorious  canopy  and  pavilion  ;  the  cloud  just  described, 
as  a  symbol  of  the  divine  presence.* 

6.  This  cloud  is  not  to  be  a  mere  phantasm,  but  a  shel- 
ter from  the  heat,t  and  a  refuge  .  .  .  from  the  storm  and 
the  rain.  The  words  are  not  entirely  figurative.  The 
heat  is  sometimes  very  oppressive  in  Palestine  (2  Kgs. 
iv.  19),  while  the  storms,  especially  in  winter,  are  often 
exceedingly  violent  and  destructive  (1  Kgs.  xviii.  44  f . ; 
Thomson,  LB,  II.  86  f.,  632).  The  author  cannot  have 
thought  of  Jehovah  as  powerless  to  protect  his  people 
against  injury  from  such  causes.     It  is  possible,  how- 

*  The  words  might  be  rendered  literally :  for  over  all  glory  there  is  a 
canopy  (Dillmann) ;  but  this  is  too  tame.  Moreover,  it  gives  to  the  term 
glory  an  unnatural  application.  The  latter  objection  holds  against  the  ren- 
dering:  for  over  all  glory  there  shall  be  a  canopy  (Delitzsch),  and  all 
others  in  which  the  glory  is  that  of  Zion  rather  than  that  of  Jehovah.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  translation,  for  above  all  glory  shall  be  this  canopy 
(Kocher)  smacks  of  Jewish  subtlety.  See  the  Targum.  The  best  inter- 
pretation is  one  in  which  the  glory  in  question  is  identified  with  that  of 
Jehovah  revealed  in  the  cloud  overhanging  Zion  (Zee.  ii.  9/5).  This  be- 
ing admitted,  there  is  not  much  choice  between  the  rendering  above  sug- 
gested and  Yea,  over  all  shall  the  glory  be  a  canopv.  And  a  tabernacle  it 
shall  be,  etc.  (Lowth),  or  :  for  over  all  \_lieth~\  glory.  Covering  and  shelter 
shall  be,  etc.  (Bredenkamp) ;  but  the  first  is  most  rhythmical.  On  the 
construction  of  T22  for  1*22,  see  Ges.  §  12S,  2,  R.  2;  and  for  that  of  v2, 
Gen.  xvi.  12. 

t  The  text  adds,  by  day,  but  since  the  phrase  has  no  significance  in  this 
connection,  and  the  Septuagint  have  nothing  to  correspond  to  it,  one  may 
conclude  that  DfiV  is  here  a  reminiscence  of  v.  5. 


IV.  6-V.  i]  COMMENTS.  143 

ever,  that  he  had  in  mind  chiefly  the  dangers  and  mis- 
fortunes to  which  he  and  his  people  were  exposed  from 
the  violence  of  wicked  men,  and  for  which  the  natural 
phenomena  cited  are  appropriate  figures.     See  xxv.  4. 

The  chapter  which  follows  is  independent  of  those 
both  before  and  after  it.  It  is  not  all  of  a  piece,  but  the 
two  parts  of  which  it  is  composed  are  both  early,  and  of 
such  a  character  that  they  can  be  grouped  under  a  single 
title, 

b.     THE    UNPROFITABLE    VINEYARD  (v.). 

The  first  part, 

(1)  The  Parable  (vv.  1-7), — is  the  finest  of  Isaiah's 
prophecies,  and  one  of  the  most  admirable  literary  pro- 
ductions in  the  Old  Testament. 

1.  The  prophet  proposes  to  sing  a  song.  One  can 
imagine  the  interest  that  such  a  proposition  would  excite, 
and  the  eagerness  with  which  people  would  gather  about 
him  as  he  ran  his  fingers  over  the  instrument  on  which 
he  was  going  to  accompany  himself.  He  throws  very 
little  light  on  the  subject  of  his  song  when  he  describes 
it  as  of  my  friend,  i.e.,  about  him  ;  since  there  is  as  yet 
no  indication  who  his  friend  is :  but  he  adds,  by  way  of 
explanation,  a  song  of  my  friend,  i.e.,  of  his  composition, 
and  then,  further,  concerning  his  vineyard.  The  subject, 
therefore,  is  the  vineyard  of  his  friend,  and  the  song 
one  that  his  friend  has  taught  him.  Yet  he  proceeds 
with  the  song  in  the  third  person  :  A  vineyard  had  my 
friend,  not,  a  vineyard  had  I,  as  his  friend  would  have 
said,  on  a  fertile  hill  (lit.  a  horn,  a  son  of  oil),  where, 
for  the  sake  of  a  better  exposure,  vineyards  were,  and 
are,  usually  located  (Am.  ix.  13). 


144  ISAIAH.  [V.  2 

2.  The  next  three  lines  review  the  activities  of  vine- 
dressers in  general,  and  the  experience  of  Isaiah's  friend 
in  particular.  He  first  digged  his  ground  over  with  the 
mattock  (vii.  25).  This  was  the  most  thorough  method 
of  tillage  known  to  the  Hebrews.  In  the  vineyards, 
after  they  were  planted,  no  other  was  possible.  He 
next  cleared  it  of  stones:  no  slight  task,  for  the  land  in 
some  parts  of  Palestine  is  very  stony ;  but  he  thus  ob- 
tained material  for  the  wall  mentioned  in  v.  5.  This 
being  done,  he  planted  it  with  cuttings,  first  soaked  for 
some  days  in  water,  from  choice  vines,  vines  that  bore 
a  bright  red  grape,  and  gave  its  name  to  the  valley  of 
Sorek,  the  home  of  Delilah.  When  he  had  started  his 
vineyard,  he  built  a  tower  in  the  midst  of  it,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  time  when  he  should  have  a  vintage  to  pro- 
tect. Such  a  tower  was  built  of  stones,  and  contained 
a  room  on  the  ground,  with  a  winding  stair  leading  to 
the  flat  roof  in  which  the  structure  terminated.  The 
room  furnished  a  shelter  for  the  owner  or  his  servants, 
and  the  roof  a  look-out  from  which  the  keeper  could 
watch  for  marauders  (Ps.  lxxx.  14/13;  Can.  ii.  15).  His 
last  preparatory  act  was  to  provide  it  with  a  wine-press. 
This  he  hewed  out.  The  rock  underlying  the  soil  of 
southern  Palestine  is  a  soft  limestone.  There  is,  there- 
fore, not  much  labor  involved  in  hewing  out  of  it  two 
basins,  one  for  the  grapes,  and  a  second  smaller  but 
deeper,  connected  with  the  first  by  a  hole  through  the 
thin  partition  between  the  two,  for  the  juice  when  it  is 
expressed.  See  Van  Lennep,  BL,  iioff.  ;  Thomson, 
LB,  I.  277.  Having  spent  so  much  care  and  labor 
upon  his  vineyard,  the  owner  expected  it  to  yield  grapes 
of  the  best  sort  in  abundance.     He  was  disappointed;  it 


V.  2-6]  COMMENTS.  145 

yielded  only  wild  ones,  no  better  fruit  than  would  have 
grown  among  the  weeds  by  the  wayside. 

3.  Now  therefore,  says  the  prophet,  adopting  a  more 
earnest  tone,  and  passing  from  the  third  to  the  first  per- 
son, to  make  his  appeal  more  effective,  judge  .  .  ..  between 
me  and  my  vineyard. 

4.  He  puts  the  case  in  two  questions,  to  each  of  which 
there  can  be  but  one  answer.  The  owner  is  blameless ; 
the  vines  are  at  fault. 

5.  Jesus,  in  his  adaptation  of  this  parable,  introduced 
a  similar  appeal  (Mat.  xxi.  40),  and  succeeded  in  making 
his  hearers  condemn  themselves;  Isaiah  cannot  wait  for 
his  answers,  but,  taking  them  for  granted,  and  still  per- 
sonating his  unknown  friend,  he  cries  in  his  impatience, 
let  me  tell  you  what  I  shall  do  to  my  vineyard ;  and 
then,  with  almost  the  abruptness  of  a  command,  take 
away*  its  hedge,  the  hedge  of  thorns  by  which,  per- 
haps, the  field  had  originally  been  enclosed ;  that  it 
may  be  cropped  by  sheep  and  goats,  whose  destructive- 
ness  to  vineyards  was  alluded  to  in  iii.  14.  He  will  tear 
down  its  wall,  too,  the  wall  built  from  the  stones  with 
which  it  was  once  covered ;  that  it  may  be  trampled  by 
the  flocks  and  herds  (vii.  25). 

6.  This  is  not  all.  I  will  put  an  end  to  it,  as  a  vine- 
yard, he  says,  and  explains  how  his  purpose  is  to  be 
fulfilled,  it  shall  neither  be  pruned,  as  every  vineyard 
had  to  be  once  a  year,  nor  tilled  between  the  rows  with 
the  mattock;  thorns  and  briers,  which  need  no  attention, 
shall  grow  therein.     Thus  far  there  has  been  nothing  to 

*  "Cn,  like  P"HB,  is  an  infinitive  absolute,  a  form  of  the  verb  particu- 
larly adapted  to  express  the  impatience  that  the  situation  warrants.  See 
Ges.  §113,  4,  M- 


146  ISAIAH.  [V.  6,  7 

indicate  that  Isaiah  is  not  describing  the  experience  of 
the  owner  of  a  literal  vineyard.  From  his  next  words, 
I  will  also  charge  the  clouds,  it  appears  who  his  friend 
really  is ;  for  none  but  Jehovah  is  able  to  close  the  win- 
dows of  heaven  and  prevent  the  descent  of  the  rain 
upon  the  earth  (Am.  iii.  6). 

7.  The  prophet  now  has  no  time  to  lose.  Having 
thrown  off  his  mask,  he  must  make  his  point  before  his 
hearers  disperse,  disgusted  with  themselves  for  having 
taken  any  interest  in  his  story.  He  is  equal  to  the 
emergency.  He  concludes  with  a  single  couplet  that 
goes  straight  to  its  mark.  But,*  he  cries,  the  vineyard 
of  Jehovah,  the  object  of  his  care  and  protection,  is  the 
house  of  Israel,  the  Northern  Kingdom ;  and  the  men  of 
Judah,  the  Southern  Kingdom,  his  delightful  plantation ; 
not  plant,  as  if  there  were  any  difference  in  the  relation 
of  the  two  nations  to  their  common  God.  The  parable 
applies  to  the  two  kingdoms  as  a  whole,  and  to  each  of 
them  independently.  Both  alike  could  boast  that  Jeho- 
vah had  chosen  them  from  among  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  (Am.  iii.  1  f.)  for  a  great  destiny  ;  and  no  less, 
that  he  had  surrounded  them  with  conditions  calculated 
to  assist  them  in  fulfilling  his  purpose.  Yet,  in  both 
cases,  when,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  he  expected  redress 
(lit.  judgment)  by  the  strong  of  the  wrongs  of  the  weak 
(i.    17),  lo  —  distress  (lit.  baldness)^  of  the  lowly,  the 

*  For  another  good  example  of  this  use  of  "O  (lit.  for),  see  Am.  iii.  7. 

f  The  exact  meaning  of  the  original  is  doubtful.  The  signification 
murder  (Dillmann)  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  the  root  of  fiSt'D  is 
HBD,  pour  (Job  xxx.  7),  from  the  Arabic  form  of  which  a  word  for  mur- 
derer is  derived.  Delitzsch  prefers  to  refer  it  to  n£D,  add,  and  render  it 
accumulation,  i.e.,  robbery.  It  seems  better  still  to  connect  it  with  the 
VS?3  of  iii.  1 7,  and  give  it,  as  above,  the  signification  baldness,  as  a  sign  of 


V.  7]  COMMENTS.  147 

result  of  the  violence  of  the  upper  classes  (Am.  ii.  7). 
The  prophet  here  again  employs  paronomasia  for  the 
purpose  of  fixing  his  thought  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
With  the  same  object  in  view  he  repeats  both  the 
thought  and  the  figure,  only  varying  the  corresponding 
words.  In  this  final  clause,  for  judgment  he  has  right- 
eousness, or,  freely  rendered,  restraint,  and  for  mourn- 
ing, a  cry,  or  complaint.* 

The  meaning  of  the  parable,  then,  is  simply,  that 
Jehovah  has  done  what  he  could  to  make  his  people 
bring  forth  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  but  they  have 
disappointed  him.  Many  have  sought  to  apply  it  more 
in  detail,  but  in  so  doing  they  have  only  weakened  the 
effect  of  the  one  thought  which  the  prophet  wished  to 
enforce.  For  a  later  application  of  the  figure  of  the 
vineyard  see  Ps.  lxxx.  9/8  ff. 

The  parable  of  the  vineyard  ends  with  v.  7.  It  needs 
no  further  application.  It  is  natural,  however,  to  look 
for 

(2)  The  Development  (vz>.  8-30)  —  of  the  subject  SO 
vividly  presented  in  some  detailed  utterance.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  chapter  answers  this  expectation.  In 
its  present  form  it  is  divisible  into  two  sections.  The 
first  deals  with 

mourning,  thus  obtaining  as  close  a  parallel  for  Hpl?2f,  cry,  as  BStl'fi,  judg- 
ment, has  in  !~!p"12»,  righteousness.     Comp.  Luzzatto. 

*  The  following  are  among  the  best  renderings  for  these  two  pairs  of 
words  by  German  interpreters : 

Gesenius:   Gutthat — Blutthat;    Begliickung  —  Bedriickung. 

Hitzig:  Rechtes  Hort  —  blutiger  Mord;  richtige  Waage  —  immerKlage. 

Orelli :  Rechtsspruch  —  Rechtsbruch ;  Gerechtigkeit  —  Niedertrachtig- 
keit. 


14S  ISAIAH.  [V.  8-10 

(a)  The  Sinners  after  their  Kinds  (vv.  8-24). — 
One  after  another  Isaiah  arraigns  the  various  classes 
of  offenders  and  pronounces  sentence  upon  them  :  first 
of  all, 

a.  the  avaricious  (vv.  8-10). — S.  They  are  those 
that  join  house  to  house,  and  add  field  to  field ;  not 
every  one  who,  having  one  house,  buys  another ;  but 
those  who  are  not  content  until,  having  dispossessed 
the  small  owners  that  once  shared  it  with  them,  they 
are  left  to  dwell  alone  in  .  .  .  the  land.  Isaiah  con- 
demns the  unlimited  accumulation  of  real  property, 
doubtless,  in  the  first  place,  because  it  was  in  direct 
violation  of  the  traditional  sentiment  (1  Kgs.  xxi.)  which 
expressed  itself  in  the  law  to  prevent  the  alienation  of 
such  property  (Lev.  xxv.  8ff.);  but  his  indignation  was 
probably  partly  due  to  the  fact,  which  Micah  asserts 
(ii.  2),  that  the  rich  often  obtained  possession  of  the 
houses  and  lands  of  their  poorer  neighbors  by  fraud  or 
violence. 

9.  He  claims  the  authority  of  Jehovah  for  the  sentence 
that  he  pronounces :  In  my  ears,  the  inner,  and  not  the 
outer  ears,  [hath]  Jehovah  .  .  .  [revealed  himself].  The 
verb  has  fallen  out  of  the  text,  but  it  is  readily  supplied 
from  xxii.  14,  which  has  the  same  form  of  expression.* 
This  is  the  substance  of  the  revelation :  many  houses,  the 
numerous  houses  of  the  rich,  shall  be  empty,  deserted ; 
and,  great  .  .  .  and  goodly  though  they  be,  they  shall  be 
without  a  tenant. 

10.  The  reason  follows.  There  is  to  be  such  a  dearth 
that  it  will  be  impossible  to  live  from  the  proceeds  of 
the  largest  estates ;  ten  yokes  of  vineyard,  the  prophet 

*  The  Scptuagint  mistook  "*S,  my  ears,  for  'JiS.  ears  of;  so  also  Luther. 


V.  io,  n]  COMMENTS.  149 

says,  shall  yield  but  one  bath.  Now,  a  yoke  was  as 
much  land  as  a  team  of  cattle  could  plough  in  a  day. 
The  term  was  not  originally  applicable  to  vineyards, 
since  they  were  not  ploughed  ;  but,  like  the  English  word 
acre,  it  came  to  denote  a  certain  area  without  reference 
to  the  use  to  which  the  land  was  put.  A  vineyard  of 
ten  yokes  would  be  a  large  one;  yet  the  owner  is  to  get 
from  it  but  a  bath,  according  to  Thenius  (Riehm,  HBA, 
art.  Maase ;  Smith,  DB,  art.  Weights  and  Measures), 
21.26  quarts,  of  wine.  This,  of  course,  is  a  pitifully, 
ruinously  small  yield.  That  of  the  fields,  however,  will 
be  even  smaller  ;  for,  when  the  crop  has  been  harvested, 
the  owner  will  find  that  he  has  only  an  ephah  —  a  dry 
measure  of  the  same  size  as  the  bath  —  of  grain  as  the 
return  from  a  homer,  ten  times  the  amount,  of  seed.  It 
is  plain  that,  at  this  rate,  the  richest  must  soon  starve 
in  the  midst  of  their  ill-gotten  acres. 

(3.  the  dissolute  (vv.  n-17) —  next  receive  atten- 
tion. 11.  They  rise  early  in  the  morning,  to  pursue,  not 
the  proper  objects  of  interest  or  devotion,  but  drink, 
intoxicating  liquor  of  any  kind,  especially  that  prepared 
from  grain,  honey,  dates,  and  other  fruits.  The  He- 
brews, although  wine  was  one  of  the  staples  of  their 
country  {vv.  1,  10),  and  they  used  it  as  commonly  as 
they  now  use  coffee  (1  Sam.  xvi.  20),  even  overlooking 
occasional  excess  in  the  use  of  it  (Gen.  xliii.  34),  always 
condemned  the  drunkard  (Prv.  xxiii.  29  ff.);  and  such 
they  regarded  any  one  who  indulged  in  stimulants  early 
in  the  day  (Ecc.  x.  16  f.).  Isaiah  represents  the  drunk- 
ards of  his  time  as  so  eager  for  liquor  that  they  not 
only  spend  the  entire  day  in  its  pursuit,  perhaps  going 


150  ISAIAH.  [V.  11-13 

from  one  convivial  gathering  to  another,  but  tarry  in 
the  evening  until  wine  inflame  them ;  *  excite  them 
beyond  the  limits  of  self-control,  making  madmen  of 
them.     See  xxviii.  7  f. 

12.  Follow  them  to  one  of  their  assemblies.  There 
are  all  sorts  of  musical  instruments  :  the  one  that  David 
played  (1  Sam.  xvi.  18),  a  stringed  instrument  with  a 
sounding-board,  like  the  lute ;  another  with  strings,  but 
without  the  sounding-board,  the  psaltery ;  the  tabret,  or 
drum ;  and  the  flute,  or  pipe,  in  one  of  its  many  forms. 
See  Riehm,  HBA,  art.  Musik.  These  and  wine,  sensual 
delights,  constitute  their  feasts,  and  so  engross  them 
that  they  regard  not  the  work  of  Jehovah ;  take  no  note 
of  the  preparations  which,  as  the  prophet  clearly  per- 
ceives, he  is  making  to  destroy  them. 

13.  Therefore,  because  they  are  thus  blind  to  what 
they  might  see,  he  continues,  shall  my  people,  not  all 
of  them,  as  he  will  presently  explain,  go  into  captivity 
unawares,  without  having  realized  that  there  was  any 
clanger  (comp.  Delitzsch) ;  their  rich  (lit.  wealth),  who 
now  live  in  luxury,  shall  be  pinched  f  with  hunger, 
reduced  to  starvation  ;  even  their  wealthy  (lit.  abun- 
dance), who  now  spend  their  days  and  nights  in  drink- 
ing, parched  with  thirst,  denied  even  water.  \ 

*  The  Hebrew  word  pTH  means  chase  as  well  as  burn  (Gen.  xxxi.  36), 
a  fact  of  which  the  prophet  must  have  taken  account  when  he  chose  it  for 
this  connection. 

t  For  "rip  read  "M3>  as  in  Deu.  xxxii.  24.    The  versions  read  Tlfii  dead. 

%  The  word  "1123,  which  often  means  honor,  in  this  connection  is  taken 
by  interpreters  generally  as  a  collective,  in  the  sense  of  the  nobility,  and 
the  correlative  of  |'£.~I,  which  is  therefore  rendered  by  some  such  term  as 
populace.  The  expression  my  people,  in  v.  13,  seems  to  favor  such  an 
interpretation;    but  it  cannot  be  the  correct  one;    for  the  final  words  of  the 


V.  14]  COMMENTS.  151 

14.  But  captivity,  with  hunger  and  thirst,  and  the 
other  unnamed  horrors  which  it  implies,  is  only  one  of 
the  evils  which  the  offenders  are  to  suffer.  On  account 
of  their  sins  shall  Sheol,  the  under-world,  in  which  the 
shades  of  the  dead  are  confined  (xiv.  9  ff.),*  here  pict- 
ured as  a  huge  dragon,  or  other  monster,  distend  her 
maw ;  enlarge  her  capacity ;  and  open  her  mouth  \  with- 
out limit,  to  receive  the  multitudes  destined  for  her. 
They  are  of  the  same  class  as  those  who  are  doomed 
to  captivity ;  the  showy,  in  dress  or  appearance  (Ps.  ex. 
3),  and  wealthy  and  noisy  revellers  among  them,^:  i.e., 

paragraph  {v.  17)  clearly  show,  that  Isaiah  had  only  one  class,  and  that  the 
upper  class,  in  mind.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  give  to  each  of  these 
words  a  sense  that  is  applicable  to  this  class.  Nobles  and  revellers,  i.e., 
noble  revellers  (Ewald),  or  nobles  and  wealthy  (de  Dieu)  have  been  sug- 
gested; but,  since  in  x.  3,  a  part  of  this  prophecy,  1123  evidently  means 
■wealth,  one  seems  warranted  in  giving  it  a  similar  interpretation  in  the 
present  instance,  and  thus  obtaining  a  still  closer  parallelism.  P'or  pftfl  see 
be.  5. 

*  On  the  Babylonian  idea  of  the  under-world  see  GSmith,  CAG,  2  239  ff. 

t  For  iTB  mUBI  read  filES  iTBl,  and  for  Tj'T1  read  "D!3 ;  comp.  Dri. 

§132. 

X  In  the  preceding  verse  the  suffix  1  (lit.  his)  undoubtedly  refers  to  "'SU. 
mv people,  and  is  therefore  properly  translated  its  or  their.  It  is  not  so 
clear  to  what  the  suffix  H  in  the  latter  half  of  this  verse  refers.  It  is  hardly 
possible  that  its  antecedent  throughout  is  ?liW,  Sheol;  and  if  it  were,  I'D 
could  not  well  mean  over  her  (Alexander).  It  is  more  natural  to  take 
this  word  in  the  sense  of  in  her,  referring  to  the  place  where  the  revellers 
now  are,  and  the  suffixes  of  the  preceding  words  as  denoting  that  the 
persons  in  question  belong  to  the  same  place.  To  the  question,  What 
place  is  meant?  two  answers  have  been  given.  The  majority  of  the  com- 
mentators say,  Jerusalem  (Delitzsch) ;  but,  if  this  verse  is  really  a  continua- 
tion of  v.  13, — which  Duhm  denies,  —  the  change  in  the  gender  of  the 
suffix  can  best  be  explained  by  supposing  that  Isaiah,  as  he  proceeded, 
unconsciously  substituted  JHK,  land,  i.e.,  Judah,  for  D17.  people.  The 
■  rendering  their  may  therefore  be  carried  through  both  verses,  as  it  is  in  the 
English  version. 


152  ISAIAH.  [V.  14-17 

among  the  people.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that 
the  prophet  here  had  in  mind  an  earthquake  (Duhm). 
The  destruction  of  multitudes  by  war,  or  any  other 
summary  means,  could  be  described  under  the  same 
figure.     See  Hab.  ii.  5. 

15.  The  woe  upon  the  dissolute  might  have  ended 
with  their  disappearance  in  Sheol ;  but  it  does  not. 
There  follow  yet  three  verses,  the  first  two  of  which 
sound  familiar.  They  arc  really  a  variation  upon  ii.  9 
and  ir.  This  fact  in  itself  would  not  warrant  very 
serious  doubt  as  to  their  genuineness ;  but,  when  one 
notes  that  it  is  now,  not  the  drunken,  but  the  haughty, 
who  are  threatened  with  destruction,  one  is  obliged  to 
confess,  at  least  that  they  do  not  belong  to  this  con- 
nection.* 

16.  The  verses  were  inserted  because  this  seemed  a 
good  place  to  recall  the  main  thought  of  chapter  ii. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  to  be  exalted,  when  the 
expression  is  applied  to  Jehovah,  is  the  same  thing  as 
to  be  sanctified,  by  righteousness,  i.e.,  by  the  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked. 

17.  There  is  a  final  word  by  Isaiah  concerning  the 
drunkards.  When  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  shall  have 
done  its  terrible  work,  and  they  shall  have  been  re- 
moved, where  they  once  dwelt  shall  lambs  graze  as  in 
their  pasture,  and  there,  on  deserted  lands,  with  their 
rich  verdure,  shall  fatlings  feed.f  See  vii.  23  ff.  Comp. 
Henry. 

*  The  change  from  the  Perfect  to  the  Imperfect  with  ivaw  consecutive 
also  shows  that  these  verses  are  not  in  their  original  setting. 

t  The  last  words  are  difficult.  Parallelism  requires  that,  in  the  second 
half  of  the  verse,  there  should  be  a  word  to  correspond  to  D"U?S3,  lambs. 


V.  i8,  19]  COMMENTS.  153 

7.  the  presumptuous  (vv.  18  f.)  —  are  next  ar- 
raigned. iS.  They  are  those  that  drag  guilt,  not,  as 
a  load,  after  them  (Orelli),  but,  as  a  crushing  weight, 
to,  or  upon,  them  (Am.  vi.  3)  with  cords  of  folly,  sin,  as 
coolly  as  one  would  pull  a  fish  out  of  the  water  (Job 
xl.  25;  Eng.  xli.  1);  and  punishment  (Zee.  xiv.  19), 
calamity,  as  with  a  cart-rope,  with  all  their  might.* 

19.  They  are  hastening  their  own  destruction ;  yet 
they  are  so  blind  to  the  indications  of  its  approach  that, 
when  they  are  warned,  they  recklessly  retort:  Let  come 
.  .  .  speedily  .  .  .  what  he  would  do ;  t  the  threatened 
evil.  They  go  so  far  as  to  mimic  Isaiah,  and  introduce 
into  their  challenge  that  awe-inspiring  name,  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel.  See  xxviii.  15  ;  comp.  Am.  v.  18.  What 
their  fate  is  to  be  he  does  not  stop  to  make  known.  J 

Such  a  word  is  OTtO,  which,  according  to  Ps.  lxvi.  15,  means  animals  of 
some  sort.  If,  however,  it  denotes  fatlings,  —  comp.  X*~W  in  Eze.  xxxix.  18, 
—  it  must  be  the  subject  of  the  sentence  in  which  it  stands,  rather  than  a 
genitive  dependent  upon  the  preceding  noun.  Thus  the  sentence  is  pro- 
vided with  both  a  subject  and  an  object,  and  D'li,  if  it  is  retained,  must  be 
construed  as  a  modifier  of  D'ntt  (Hitzig).  But,  although  there  is  sense  in 
describing  the  wolf  as  dwelling  with  the  lamb  (xi.  6),  it  seems  unnecessary 
to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  these  fatlings  tarry  where  they  feed.  In 
short,  C*"1J  is  superfluous,  and  the  only  way  to  account  for  it  is  to  suppose 
that  it  is  a  mistake  for  some  other  word  originally  intended  to  explain  DYfi. 
The  later  critics  incline  to  think,  with  Durell,  that  the  original  was  D'Ij, 
for  DW"H,  kids  (Buhl);  but  the  Septuagint  have  the  plural  of  a/xvos;  which 
they  never  use  for  "13,  while  they  do  use  it  to  render  "O,  latnb,  in  Jer.  li.40. 
The  original  gloss  was  therefore  probably  D*~C,  lambs. 

*  One  is  tempted  to  favor  the  ingenious  emendation  suggested  by 
Knobel,  H/Tri  rT—L'S,  with  a  rope  of  wickedness,  if  for  no  other  reason, 
because  it  seems  difficult  to  make  it  understood  that  there  can  be  more 
than  one  use  for  a  cart-rope. 

t  On  ,Tv:'Tt\  see  Ges.  §  48,  3,  R. 

J  According  to  Duhm  the  conclusion  has  been  lost;  so,  also,  in  the 
case  of  the  remaining  woes. 


154  ISAIAH.  [V.  20-22 

8.  the  perverse  (?'.  20) — are  simply  .described. 
They  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil.  Not  that  they  do 
not  know  the  difference.  They  ignore  this  distinction, 
recognizing  no  law  but  their  own  inclination.  As  if, 
adds  the  prophet,  they  should  put  darkness  for  light, 
and  light  for  darkness,  or  reverse  the  verdict  of  either 
of  their  other  senses.  The  punishment  due  such  per- 
versity is  left  to  the  imagination. 

e.  the  self-confident  (v.  21), —  also,  receive  only 
passing  attention.  They  are  wise  in  their  own  eyes, 
above  taking  advice,  even  of  Jehovah.  Such  can  never 
prosper.     See  Prv.  iii.  5  ff. 

£  the  corrupt  (vv.  22-24)  — are  the  last  to  be 
called  to  account.  At  first  sight  the  prophet  seems,  in 
this  paragraph,  to  have  two  distinct  classes  of  persons 
in  mind.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The  key  to 
the  connection  is  found  in  Am.  ii.  8.  There  the  older 
prophet  describes  the  sinners  at  Bethel  as  drinking 
"the  wine  of  such  as  have  been  fined"  at  their  feasts; 
in  other  words,  he  accuses  them  of  making  their  judicial 
offices  pay  the  expenses  of  their  carousals.  So  here 
Isaiah  arraigns  the  corrupt,  as  well  as  dissolute,  judges 
of  his  time  and  country.     Comp.  Orelli. 

22.  Men  in  such  a  position  as  theirs  ought  to  be  men 
of  distinction.  In  a  sense  they  meet  this  expectation : 
they  are  heroes,  but  not  of  the  sort  that  win  battles  ; 
their  might  is  in  drinking  wine.  They  are  men  of 
prowess,  but  only  in  mixing  drink ;  not  with  water 
(Delitzsch),  but  with  spices,  by  which  it  was  made 
stronger  as  well  as  more  palatable  (Ps.  lxxv.  9/8 ;  Can. 
viii.  2). 


V.  23,  24]  COMMENTS.  155 

23.  When,  however,  they  are  called  upon  to  perform 
their  functions  as  magistrates,  their  courage  disappears. 
They  acquit  the  guilty,  because  they  cannot  resist  a 
bribe,  and  the  innocent  *  they  rob  of  his  innocence  :  con- 
demn in  spite  of  his  innocence ;  also,  of  course,  for  a 
consideration. 

24.  This  time  the  prophet's  indignation  demands 
fuller  expression.  Such  outrages  will  surely  be  pun- 
ished. Jehovah  will  see  to  it,  that,  as  the  fire's  tongue 
lappeth  (lit.  eateth)  stubble,  when  it  sweeps  over  a  field, 
or  hay,  dried  grass,  used  as  fuel  (Mat.  vi.  30),  sinketh  in 
the  flame  f  of  the  oven,  they  are  utterly  destroyed.  The 
figure  that  follows  has  the  same  force.  The  doomed 
persons  are  compared  to  a  plant  with  a  root  below,  and 
a  blossom  above,  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  root 
becomes  rolten  and  mingles  with  the  soil,  while  the 
blossom,  becoming  dry,  rises,  and  is  carried  away  by  the 
wind,  like  dust.  So  shall  these  judges  be  annihilated 
(Am.  ii.  9;  Job  xviii.  16),  because  they  have  been  guilty 
of  the  sins  charged,  and,  in  general,  —  and  the  same 
would  apply  to  all  the  classes  of  sinners  arraigned,  — 
because  they  have  rejected  the  teaching  of  Jehovah ;  re- 
fused to  obey  his  spirit  speaking  to  them  directly  in  their 
own  souls,  or  indirectly  through  the  prophets ;  and  de- 
spised the  word  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  the  God  to 
whose  wonderful  guidance  and  protection  the  Hebrews 
as  a  people  owe  their  existence. 

The  first  seven  verses  of  the  chapter  illustrated  the 
general  condition  of  Israel.     The  second  division  has 

*  For  D'P'*]^  read  p^ISC,  in  harmony  with  13£2£  (singular)  and  the 
versions.  y  On  the  accentuation,  see  Wickes,  HPA,  134. 


156  ISAIAH.  [V.  25-30 

furnished  the  specifications,  with  threats  of  punishment 
interspersed  among  the  offences  enumerated.  It,  also, 
is  complete  in  itself;  yet,  like  the  first,  it  leaves  some- 
thing to  be  desired.  The  sinners  arraigned  are  to  be 
punished;  but  how?  Isaiah,  when  he  wrote  this 
prophecy,  left  the  question  unanswered.  The  collector, 
feeling  the  omission,  supplied  it  by  inserting  a  fragment 
on 

{U)  The  Avenger  of  Jehovah  (vv.  25-30),  —  which 
once  formed  the  conclusion  of  chapter  ix.*  This  was 
really  to  misapply  the  passage ;  for,  while  the  preceding 
woes  were  probably  directed  against  Judah,  ix.  7/8  ff. 
clearly  has  chiefly  to  do  with  the  fate  of  Israel.  The 
matter,  however,  is  not  of  so  great  consequence  as  it 

*  There  are  various  reasons  for  this  statement:  (i)  The  preceding 
prophecy,  having,  in  v.  24,  a  fitting  conclusion,  needs  no  further  addition; 
(2)  the  added  conclusion  does  not  fit  its  present  position:  e.g.,  while  in 
v.  24  the  evil  described  is  to  come,  in  v.  25  it  is  past;  note  also,  p  bV 
instead  of  J-1?,  for  therefore;  (3)  ix.  7/8-20/21  now  has  no  conclusion. 
The  fitness  of  these  last  verses  of  chapter  v.  to  serve  as  a  conclusion  to 
chapter  ix.  is  as  apparent  as  their  unfitness  for  their  present  connection : 
note,  e.g.,  that  ix.  7/8  ff.  uses  the  past  tense  and  j-  .V,  but  especially  that  it 
is  divided  into  stanzas  each  of  which  closes  with  the  refrain  at  the  end  of 
v.  25.  Giesebrecht,  to  whom  is  due  the  credit  of  having  discovered  the 
original  position  of  vv.  26  ff.  {BJ,  4  ff.),  regards  v.  25  as  an  editorial 
device  to  connect  these  verses  with  the  prophecy  to  which  they  are  now 
attached.  See  also  Cheyne,  IBI,  24  ff.  This  theory,  however,  is  untenable. 
No  one  would  have  composed  v.  25  to  connect  vv.  24  and  26 :  for,  in  the 
first  place,  a  connecting  verse  was  not  necessary;  and,  secondly,  this  verse, 
as  the  linguistic  peculiarities  noticed  go  to  show,  was  composed  with 
ix.  7/8  ff.,  and  not  v.  8  ff.,  in  mind.  The  latter  consideration  makes  it 
probable  that,  as  Duhm  insists,  7>.  25  is  the  end  of  the  next  to  the  last 
stanza  of  the  prophecy  of  which  ix.  7/8  ff.  is  the  beginning  and  v.  26  ff.  the 
conclusion.  It  follows,  also,  that  vv.  25  ff.  must  already  have  been  sepa- 
rated from  their  original  setting  when  the  present  collection  was  made. 
Comp.  GASmith. 


V.  25,  26J  COMMENTS.  157 

would  be  if  Isaiah  had  not  actually  predicted  the  inva- 
sion of  Judah,  as  well  as  Israel,  by  the  Assyrians  (viii. 
7  f. ;  x.  28  ff.). 

25.  Therefore,  says  the  prophet,  not  on  account  of 
the  sins  above  enumerated,  but  for  reasons  given  in  the 
lost  verses,  was  the  anger  of  Jehovah  kindled  ;  at  some 
time  in  the  past ;  for  Isaiah  here,  like  Amos  (in  iv.  6  ff.), 
is  recalling  the  chastisements  by  which  Jehovah  had 
sought  to  turn  Israel  from  their  rebellious  course;  and 
his  hand  outstretched,  his  power  exerted,  against  them. 
See  xxxi.  3.  The  result  in  this  case  was,  that  the  moun- 
tains trembled,  with  an  earthquake  (Am.  iv.  1 1),  and  their 
corpses,  the  bodies  of  those  killed  by  falling  walls,  were 
as  refuse  in  the  midst  of  the  streets ;  into  which,  in  an 
oriental  city,  everything  is  thrown.  For  all  this,  al- 
though he  had  so  severely  punished  them,  his  anger 
turned  not  from  them  (Gen.  xxvii.  45),  but  his  hand  was 
outstretched  still,  threatening  further  and  severer  pen- 
alties. The  same  refrain  occurs  ix.  11,  16,  20,  and  x.  4. 
Compare  that  of  Am.  iv.  6  ff. 

26.  The  calamity  described  in  the  preceding  verse 
was  the  last  of  a  series.  They  had  had  no  effect. 
Now,  therefore,  Jehovah  prepares  to  deliver  them  into 
the  hands  of  the  most  terrible  of  enemies,  he  will  hoist 
a  signal ;  summon,  by  means  as  effectual  as  the  flags 
raised  on  hills  and  mountains,  by  which  men  summon 
one  another  in  times  of  danger  (xiii.  2),  a  nation  from 
afar,*  a  remote  nation ;  and  shrill,  as  one  did  to  attract 

*  The  text  has  pimfi  C"!3  ,  nations  from  afar  ;  but  the  use  of  the  sin- 
gular "O,  to  it,  after  the  next  verb,  indicates  that  the  original  expression 
was  the  one  found  in  Jer.  xv.  5  :  piTlStt  """U,  and  that,  after  the  latter  of 
these  two  words  had  lost  its  first  &  to  the  former,  the  second  C  was  mis- 


15S  ISAIAH.  [V.  26-28 

from  their  hives,  to  one,*  the  same  one,  from  the 
end  of  the  earth.  No  name  is  given  to  this  nation,  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  one  whose  appear- 
ance Amos  (vi.  14)  foretold  in  very  similar  language,  the 
Assyrians.  The  description  that  follows  makes  this 
increasingly  clear  as  it  proceeds. 

They  come  as  an  army,  quickly,  swiftly,  starting 
promptly  and  marching  rapidly.  27.  there  is  none  that 
fainteth  or  falleth,t  so  hardened  are  they  to  fatigue 
and  exposure.  %  Their  outfit,  too,  is  perfect ;  the 
girdles  of  their  loins,  by  which  their  armor  is  held 
in  place  and  to  which  their  weapons  are  attached 
(1  Sam.  xvii.  38  f.),  are  not  loosed;  do  not  give  way; 
nor  are  the  strings  of  their  shoes,  the  high-laced  boots 
worn  by  soldiers  (1  Kgs.  ii.  5 ;  Ragozin,  SA,  372), 
broken. 

28.  They  are  ready  for  action :  their  arrows,  with 
heads  of  bronze  or  iron,  are  sharpened,  ready  for  use ; 
and  all  their  bows  bent,§  as  they  advance  to  the  attack. 

taken  for  the  preposition  of  that  form,  and  a  1  inserted  to  make  the  rest 
intelligible.     See  also  x.  3  and  xvii.  13;   comp.  Delitzsch. 

*  The  text  reads  to  it;  but  to  one  better  expresses  the  prophet's  mean- 
ing, since  it  is  not  Jehovah,  but  the  nation  summoned  that  is  at  the  end 
of  the  earth. 

t  The  last  clause  of  v.  26  and  the  first  of  v.  27  form  a  couplet.  They 
should  therefore  both  be  in  the  same  verse,  but  it  does  not  matter  with 
which  they  are  connected. 

X  The  next  line,  they  neither  slumber  nor  sleep,  is  an  odd  one,  in  the 
metrical  sense,  and  too  extravagant  fur  the  connection;  hence  it  is  proba- 
bly, as  Duhm  contends,  an  interpolation. 

§  Lit.  trodden,  because  the  Hebrews  sometimes  used  a  bow  so  long  that 
the  archer  could  rest  it  on  the  ground,  and  so  stiff  that  he  had  to  set  his 
foot  upon  it  to  bend  it.  The  Assyrians  always  bent  their  bows,  whether 
long  or  short,  with  their  arms.  See  Riehm,  NBA,  art.  Bogen;  Smith,  DB, 
art.  Arms. 


V.  28-30]  COMMENTS.  159 

Some  of  them  ride  in  chariots,  the  hoofs  of  their  horses, 
as  of  all  good  horses  before  it  was  the  custom  to  shoe 
them,  are  counted  as  flint,  and  their  speed  such  that  the 
oncoming  of  their  wheels  is  like  a  whirlwind.  Comp. 
Nah.  ii.  5/4. 

29.  The  prophet  likens  this  mass  of  men  and  animals 
advancing  upon  Israel  to  the  beast  in  hunting  which  the 
Assyrians  especially  delighted,  the  lion,  they  have  a 
roar  like  the  lion's,  ominous,  terrible  ;  and  when  they 
growl  and  lay  hold  of  prey,  i.e.,  growling  seize  their  vic- 
tim, they  carry  it  off,  and  there  is  none  to  deliver. 
Comp.  xxxi.  4. 

30.  This  is  a  fine  passage.  It  is  not  improved  by  the 
addition  of  the  verse  with  which  the  chapter  now  closes. 
Indeed,  these  last  words  are  almost  unintelligible.  It  is 
most  natural  to  take  they  shall  growl  over  it  as  a  further 
application  of  the  figure  of  the  lion,  and  interpret  it  as 
meaning  that  the  Assyrians,  having  carried  off  the  cap- 
tives taken  in  the  impending  war,  will  vent  their  rage 
upon  them,  as  the  lion  growls  over  the  victim  that  it 
has  carried  to  its  lair  (Am.  iii.  4).  if  one  look  toward 
the  land  will  then  mean,  if  one  of  the  captives  turn  his 
eyes  toward  his  country ;  and  the  rest,  that  he  will  see 
darkness,  desolation  and  suffering,  and  the  light,  the 
happiness  of  the  remaining  inhabitants,  obscured  by 
its,  the  land's,  clouds,  misfortunes.  Whatever  may 
be  the  correct  interpretation,  the  style  is  so  clearly 
not  that  of  Isaiah  that  one  may  safely  pronounce  the 
verse  an  addition  to  the  .preceding  genuine  fragment, 
made  by  some  one,  probably  the  editor  of  the  collec- 
tion, for  the  purpose  of  making  more  evident  than  it 
seemed,    what    was    supposed    to    be    the    original,    or 


160  ISAIAH.  [V.  30-VI. 

at  least  an  allowable,  application  of  Isaiah's  words; 
viz.  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  monarchy  by  the 
Babylonians.* 

c.     THE    CALL    OF  ISAIAH  (vi.). 

This  chapter  has  sometimes  been  regarded  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  group  of  prophecies  following  (Duhm). 
To  this  view  there  is  the  serious  objection,  that  it  is  not 
suited  to  its  supposed  purpose.  It  is  more  nearly  related 
to  the  chapters  that  precede ;  to  which,  therefore,  it 
may  be  considered  an  appendix  intended  to  justify  the 
prophet's  hitherto  almost  unbroken  severity.  Perhaps, 
however,  it  did  not  always  occupy  its  present  position 
with  reference  to  them,  but  originally  served  as  an  intro- 
duction to  chapters  ii.-iv.  or  ii.-v.,  and  was  displaced  by 
chapter  i.,  when  this  lesser  book  was  incorporated  into 
a  larger  collection.  In  discussing  its  date,  one  should 
distinguish  between  the  narrative  and  the  event  nar- 
rated. The  prophet's  call  naturally  antedates  all  his 
prophecies,  but  the  description  of  it  may  be  consider- 
ably later.     That  the  record  actually  is  later  than  the 

*  The  subject  of  Cn",  roar,  must  be  either  Assyria  or  Jehovah;  but 
the  supposition  that  it  is  the  latter  requires  such  violence  to  the  text  that 
even  Duhm  shrinks  from  adopting  it.  In  the  interpretation  of  JHK?  one 
should  not  give  too  much  weight  to  viii.  21  f.;  where  ""IN  .  X  is  preceded 
by  TOVlsh,  upward,  or  to  the  Greek  codices,  e.g.,  the  Complutensian,  that 
have  been  influenced  by  that  passage.  Toward  the  land  is  precisely  the 
direction  in  which  the  eyes  of  the  exiled  Jews  were  always  turned  (xlix. 
14  ff. ;  Ixiv.  IO  ff.).  It  is  more  probable  that  "lit,  distress,  is  a  gloss  sug- 
gested by  viii.  22,  than  that  anything  common  to  the  two  passages  has 
been  lost  from  this  one.  If,  however,  the  word  is  retained,  it  should  be 
connected,  not,  in  accordance  with  the  accentuation,  with  the  one  follow- 
ing (Delitzsch),  but,  as  both  the  sense  and  the  rhythm  require,  with  the 
one  preceding. 


VI.  x]  COMMENTS.  161 

event  recorded,  is  indicated  by  the  phraseology  of  the 
first  verse  ;  for  the  words,  "  in  the  year  that  Uzziah  died," 
would  hardly  have  been  used,  if,  at  the  time  of  writing, 
the  king's  death  had  been  a  comparatively  recent  occur- 
rence. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
that  the  desolation  predicted  in  this,  and  described  in  the 
first  chapter,  had  at  that  time  actually  been  wrought.  A 
date  about  730  b.c.  would  seem  to  be  most  satisfactory  ; 
but  it  may  be  from  one  to  five  years  later. 

The  chapter  contains  two  scenes,  the  first  of  which  is 
a  description  of 

(l)  The  Holy  One  of  Israel  (vv.  I -7)  —  in  his  majesty. 
1.  It  was  In  the  year  that  King  Uzziah  died  ;  as  shown  in 
Intr.  Stud.  II.,  about  735  B.C.,  and  before  the  death  of 
the  king.  In  that  year  he  saw  the  Lord.*  It  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  there  was  an  external  appearance  cor- 
responding to  the  description  that  follows ;  for  no  one 
will  claim  that  God  really  sits  on  a  visible  throne ;  wears 
a  robe  with  a  train,  etc. ;  or  that  there  was  any  reason 
or  necessity,  e.g.,  in  the  presence  of  persons  less  spiritual 
than  the  prophet,  for  seeming  so  to  do  (comp.  Acts  ix. 
1  ff.).  Nor  is  there  ground  for  believing  that  the  phe- 
nomena described  were  due  to  the  action  of  the  divine 
spirit  upon  Isaiah's  inner  eye  and  ear ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  vision  was  real  but  symbolic.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  would  hardly  be  doing  justice  to  this  narrative 
to  say,  that,  on  the  occasion  in  question,  the  prophet  ex- 
perienced only  a  series  of  convictions  which  he  afterward 
clothed  in  the  form  of  a  vision.  A  safer  explanation 
would  be,  that,  being  in  an  ecstasy,  he  then  and  there 

*  Many  manuscripts  and  editions  have  HIT,  Jehovah. 


162  ISAIAH.  [VI.  i,  2 

involuntarily  clothed  the  convictions  experienced  in  the 
form  in  which  they  have  been  preserved.  Comp.  Jno. 
xii.  41.  It  was  natural  and  customary  to  represent 
Jehovah  as  a  king  (Ps.  xlvii. ).  Here,  as  in  Jer.  xvii.  12 
he  sat  on  a  throne  lofty  and  exalted,  while  his  train,  the 
skirts  of  his  robe,  filled,  covered  the  entire  pavement  of, 
the  temple.  It  is  not  the  heavenly  palace  of  Jehovah 
that  is  meant  (Orelli) :  for,  although  it  is  taught  in  places 
in  the  Old  Testament,  that  his  throne  is  in  heaven  (lxvi. 
1  ;  Ps.  ii.  4),  the  earlier  idea  seems  to  have  been  that  it 
was  between  the  cherubim  (1  Sam.  iv.  4;  Isa.  xxxvii.  16), 
in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  (Jer.  iii.  17;  xiv.  21  ;  Ps. 
xlvii.  9/8);  and  the  fact  that  the  word  temple  here,  and 
the  word  altar  in  the  sixth  verse,  are  unmodified  except 
by  the  article,  shows  that  Isaiah  meant  to  be  understood 
as  referring  to  the  temple  and  the  altar  with  which  his 
readers  were  familiar.  He  seems  to  have  imagined  him- 
self at  the  door  outside  the  structure.   . 

2.  Jehovah  was  attended  by  Seraphs :  not  angels 
(Alexander),  for  angels  have  no  wings  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  nor  cherubs  (Henderson),  for  the  office  of  cherubs 
was  to  support,  rather  than  to  surround,  the  throne ;  but 
composite  forms  which  seem  originally  to  have  repre- 
sented the  lightning,  or  the  thunder  cloud,  but  which  the 
prophet  here  introduces  as  guardians  of  the  sanctuary 
and  messengers  of  the  Almighty.  See  Ps.  civ.  4 ;  comp. 
the  "living  creatures"  of  Rev.  iv.  6  ff .  The  seraphs 
have  faces,  and  hands,  and  feet ;  but  whether  these  were 
the  faces,  etc.,  of  the  human,  or  of  some  lower  form,  is 
uncertain;  also  the  number  of  them.*     They  hovered 

*  The  word  fpt?  (lit.  burning)  is  also  applied  to  the  serpent  that 
plagued  the   Hebrews  in  the  desert  (Num.  xxi.  6),  and  the  image  that 


VI.  2,  3]  COMMENTS.  163 

about  him  (lit.  stood  above  him\  sustaining  themselves 
above  the  pavement  and  the  outspread  train,  but  not 
above  the  occupier  of  the  throne,  each  with  six  wings, 
three  pairs :  with  two  he  covered  his  face,  in  awe  of 
Jehovah ;  with  two  .  .  .  his  feet,  the  lower  part  of  his 
body,  being  otherwise  naked ;  with  two  he  flew,  sus- 
tained himself  in  the  position  in  which  the  prophet  saw 
him. 

3.  Hovering  thus  about  the  throne,  one  cried  to  another, 
responsively,  Holy  !  holy  !  holy !  For  the  meaning  of 
the  term  holy  see  the  comment  on  i.  4.  The  repetition 
of  it  is  not  a  mere  substitute  for  the  superlative ;  it  sug- 
gests a  degree  of  the  quality  denoted  that  challenges 
adoration  but  defies  expression  (Jer.  xxii.  29 ;  Rev.  iv.  8). 
How  deep  was  the  impression  made  thereby  upon  the 
prophet,  appears  in  the  name  "  Holy  One  of  Israel,"  of 
which  Isaiah  was  probably  the  originator.  See  i.  4,  etc. 
The  second  line  repeats  the  first,  but  with  certain  modi- 
fications. The  effect  of  the  preceding  repetition  is 
secured  by  a  different  means,  the  whole  earth  is  full, 
so  abundant  is  his  glory,  the  revealed  expression  of  his 
holiness,  or,  as  Paul  expresses  it,  "  his  everlasting  power 
and  divinity "  (Rom.  i.  20).  Here,  however,  it  is  not 
merely  the  glory  seen  "  in  the  things  that  are  made," 
that  is  meant,  but,  also  and  especially,  that  which  ap- 
pears in  his  dealings  with  his  people  (Num.  xiv.  21  f. ; 
Isa.  v.  16). 

Moses  then  made  for  their  protection.  Hence  it  has  been  supposed  that 
the  seraphs  were  winged  dragons,  and  that  their  employment  in  the 
vision  was  suggested  by  this  image,  which,  according  to  2  Kgs.  xviii.  14, 
was  not  destroyed  until  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (Delitzsch);  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  description  given  by  Isaiah  will  warrant  such  a  theory. 
See  Baudissin,  SSR,  I,  285. 


164  ISAIAH.  [VI.  4,  5 

4.  Then  the  foundations  of  the  threshold,  the  structure 
in  which  the  scene  was  enacted,  to  its  very  foundations,* 
quaked  at  the  sound,  as  each  seraph,  or  chorus  of  ser- 
aphs, cried,  as  if  shaken  by  a  succession  of  earthquakes. 
At  the  same  time  the  house,  the  interior,  was  filled  with 
smoke.  This  smoke  is  explained  as  a  manifestation  of 
Jehovah's  glory  (Cheyne :  see  Rev.  xv.  8),  or  anger 
(Nagelsbach :  see  Ps.  xviii.  9/8  f.);  but,  since  it  is  the 
seraphs'  hymn  that  shakes  the  house,  it  would  seem 
more  probable  that  the  smoke  was  produced  by  them ; 
not,  however,  from  their  mouths  (Duhm),  but  with  in- 
cense burned  as  they  sang.  Nor  was  the  smoke  thus 
produced  merely  a  symbol  for  praise  (Delitzsch).  It 
was  the  veil  which  they,  like  the  high  priest,  when  he 
entered  the  sanctuary  (Lev.  xvi.  13),  placed  between 
them  and  the  glory  that  they  were  celebrating.  Comp. 
also  GASmith.f 

5.  The  prophet  is  duly  impressed  by  the  scene.  The 
first  effect  is  to  enlarge  his  conception  of  Jehovah  ;  but 
no  sooner  does  he  begin  to  appreciate  the  divine  per- 

*  Other  interpretations  of  D'EDH  mftX  are:  supports  of  the  lintel  (De- 
litzsch), frame  of  the  door  (Hitzig),  hinges  of  the  door-posts  (Buhl);  all 
of  which  fall  short  of  Isaiah's  meaning.  Here,  as  in  Am.  ix.  1,  the 
writer  wishes  to  describe  an  effect  which  he  must  have  thought  of  as  con- 
vulsing the  entire  structure.  This  is  best  expressed  by  a  reference  to  the 
foundations.  The  word  ^jD  may,  and  regularly  does,  mean  sill.  It  seems, 
therefore,  safe  to  conclude,  that  this  is  its  meaning  in  the  present  instance; 
and  that  HEX,  whose  derivation  is  doubtful,  denotes  something  connected 
with  sills,  probably  something  underlying  them. 

t  Buhl  treats  these  words  as  a  circumstantial  clause  to  be  connected 
with  the  following  verse,  rendering  it :  While  the  house  was  filled  with 
smoke,  I  said,  etc.;  but  it  is  better  to  explain  the  arrangement  as  a  device 
for  contrasting  IT^ri,  the  interior,  with  D*£uH,  the  threshold,  representing 
the  exterior  of  the  structure.     See  Gen.  xiii.  12;   Ges.  §  142,  a. 


VI.  5,  6]  COMMENTS.  165 

factions  than  he  realizes  his  own  imperfections.  The 
sense  of  his  unworthiness  finally  reaches  such  intensity 
that  he  exclaims,  I  am  undone  !  my  fate  is  sealed  !  The 
rest  of  the  verse  gives  his  reasons  for  his  fears.  The  first 
is  that  he  is  a  man  of  unclean  lips.  These  words  can 
have  no  reference  to  the  future  calling  of  Isaiah 
(Duhm):  for  (i)  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  had 
yet  received  any  intimation  of  his  call ;  (2)  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  unfitness  for  the  prophetic  office  would  not 
have  given  him  cause  to  apprehend  personal  danger ; 
and  (3)  he  uses  the  same  expression  with  reference  to 
his  people  that  he  applies  to  himself.  The  key  to  this 
confession  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  hypothesis, 
already  suggested,  that  the  prophet  was  worshipping 
in  the  temple  when  the  vision  was  vouchsafed  him. 
Being  thus  engaged,  he  would  naturally  put  the  thought 
of  his  unworthiness  into  the  form  of  a  confession,  that 
he  was  unfit  to  take  the  name  of  his  God  upon  his  lips ; 
and  the  fact  of  his  unfitness  would,  under  the  circum- 
stances, fill  him  with  terror.  Comp.  Delitzsch.  Nor 
does  he  fear  for  himself  alone.  His  people  are  a  people 
of  unclean  lips,  unworthy  of  the  God  whom  they  profess 
to  worship,  and  therefore  exposed  to  his  consuming 
wrath.  He  himself  is  in  immediate  danger,  because, 
although  sinful,  his  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  Jehovah  of 
Hosts ;  whom  none  but  those  that  walk  with  him  can 
see,  and  live  (xxxiii.  14  ff.). 

6.  The  confession  is  hardly  ended  before  one  of  the 
seraphs  comes  flying  to  the  penitent,  bearing  *  a  live 

*  The  word  bearing  is  substituted  for  the  literal  reading,  and  in  his  hand, 
or  in  -whose  hand,  lest  it  should  seem  that  the  coal,  although  taken  from  the 
altar  with  the  tongs,  was  carried  to  Isaiah  in  the  seraph's  naked  hand. 


166  ISAIAH.  [VI.  6-8 

coal  *  .  .  .  taken,  and  borne,  with  the  tongs,  the  use  of 
which  is  not  so  strange  as  it  would  otherwise  be,  if  the 
scene  be  supposed  to  be  laid  in  the  temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem, off  the  altar,  the  golden  altar  of  incense  in  front 
of  the  curtain  that  usually  separated  the  outer  from  the 
inner  sanctuary  (Ex.  xxx.  6;   I  Kgs.  vii.  48). 

7.  The  coal  is  a  symbol  of  the  power  by  which  the 
sins  of  the  prophet  are  to  be  removed  (Num.  xxxi.  23  ; 
Mai.  ill.  2  ff.).  With  it  the  seraph  touches  the  prophet's 
mouth,  saying,  Lo,  this  hath  touched  thy  lips,  whose 
uncleanness  was  lamented ;  so  shall  thy  guilt,  the  only 
cause  for  fear,  depart,  and  thy  punishment,  the  penalty 
attached  (v.  18),  be  cancelled.  Still  there  is  no  mention 
of  the  office  for  which  Isaiah  was  destined. 

The  ceremony  just  described  was  not  one  of  conse- 
cration to  the  prophetic,  or  any  other,  office ;  but  that 
which  it  symbolized  constituted  a  preparation  for  any 
office  or  duty  to  which  the  man  on  whom  it  was  per- 
formed might  be  called.  The  call  was  not  long  de- 
layed.    The  remaining  verses  of  the  chapter  unfold 

(2)  The  Mission  of  the  Prophet  (vv.  8- 1 3).  —  8.  The 
Lord,t  who  has  thus  far  sat  in  silent  majesty  on  his 
throne  receiving  the  adoration  of  his  attendants,  now 
speaks.  His  first  words  are,  Whom  shall  I  send  ?  in 
which  there  is  neither  any  hint  of  the  object  of  the  mis- 
sion, nor  any  indication  who  would  be  an  acceptable 
messenger.  The  question  is  repeated ;  but  this  time, 
as  in  Gen.  i.  26,  Jehovah  associates  with   himself    his 

*  Thus,  the  Septuagint,  the  Peshita,  and  other  ancient  authorities; 
others,  a  hoi  stone,  such  as  was  used  in  baking  (i  Kgs.  xix.  6). 

f  For  ""IX,  Lord,  many  manuscripts  and  editions  have  .T.T,  Jehovah. 


VI.  8-io]  COMMENTS.  167 

attendants,  saying,  who  will  go  for  us  ?  Comp.  2  Kgs. 
xxii.  19  ff.  To  this  question  Isaiah,  without  asking 
what  is  to  be  the  nature  of  his  mission,  eagerly  re- 
sponds, Here  am  I ;  send  me. 

9.  His  offer  is  accepted,  and  he  at  once  commis- 
sioned. Go,  says  Jehovah,  to  this  people :  a  form  of 
expression,  which,  in  contrast  with  my  people,  implies 
contempt,  but  does  not  indicate  precisely  who  are 
meant;  whether  the  entire  Hebrew  stock  or  only  one 
of  the  two  kingdoms  into  which  it  was  divided.  Comp. 
viii.  6  with  n.  Perhaps  it  will  appear  as  the  narrative 
proceeds.  Hear  on,  but  do  not  understand ;  see  on,  but 
do  not  perceive.*  This,  of  course,  does  not  mean  that 
Jehovah  does  not  wish  those  to  whom  he  is  sent  to  pay 
any  heed  to  the  new  messenger,  or  to  take  to  heart  the 
new  experiences  which  he  has  in  store  for  them.  The 
words  are  ironical.  What  he  really  means  is,  that  he 
intends  to  continue  to  speak  to  them  through  his 
prophet  and  his  providence,  although  he  knows  that 
they  will  heed  neither  the  one  nor  the  other ;  and  that 
he  intends  to  hold  them  accountable  for  the  result  fore- 
seen, because  it  is  determined,  not  by  his  foresight,  but 
by  their  unhindered  choice.     See  Calvin,  f 

10.  He  continues  in  the  same  strain,  commanding 
Isaiah,  Make  the  hearts  of  this  people  gross.  The  heart 
is  here,  as  often  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  organ  of 
thought  and  intelligence.  See  Piepenbring,  TOT,  166 1. 
A  gross,  or,  literally,  fatty  heart,  is  a  mind  in  some  way 
rendered  insensible  to  appeals  addressed  to  it.     Isaiah 

*  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  113,  3,  b. 

t  The  freedom  of  those  addressed  is  implied  in  the  negative  employed, 
the  deprecatory  ^K,  and  not  the  prohibitory  K7. 


16S  ISAIAH.  [VI.  10-12 

is  instructed  to  persevere  in  his  mission,  although  the 
repetition  of  his  message  lessen,  rather  than  increase, 
the  probability  that  it  will  be  heeded.  Nay,  more,  he 
is  to  make  their  ears  dull,  and  seal  their  eyes ;  continue 
his  work  until  he  is  not  only  disregarded,  but  utterly 
ignored,  and  it  thus  becomes  impossible  for  them  to 
see  .  .  .  and  hear  what  the  prophet  has  to  show  and  tell 
them  ;  understand,  take  heed ;  and,  in  consequence,  be 
healed*  again, f  relieved  from  the  calamities  by  which 
they  are  afflicted,  and  restored  to  prosperity.  Here,  of 
course,  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  although  Jehovah 
seems  to  take  the  responsibility,  when  the  people  have 
reached  the  condition  described,  there  will  be  no  one 
but  themselves  to  blame  for  it ;  since  the  means  to  be 
employed  are  calculated,  with  their  cooperation,  to  pro- 
duce a  result  of  exactly  the  opposite  character.  See 
Mat.  xiii.  14  f.  ;  Jno.  xii.  39  f. ;  Acts  xxviii.  26  f. 

11.  The  prophet,  perceiving  that  contempt  for  Jeho- 
vah's will  means  serious  suffering,  and  shuddering  at 
the  possibilities  which  present  themselves  to  his  imagina- 
tion, anxiously  inquires,  How  long,  0  Lord?  i.e.,  how 
long  will  they  persist  in  their  course  in  spite  of  thy 
chastisements  ?  Jehovah  replies,  Until  the  cities,  ruined 
by  ruthless  enemies,  are  without  inhabitant,  and  unin- 
habitable, and  the  soil  is  left  %  a  desert. 

12.  No  hint  has  thus  far  been  given  of  the  means 
by  which  the  country  is  to  be  depopulated.  Now  it 
appears  that  some,  at  least,  of   its  inhabitants  will  be 

*  On  KB1,  see  Ges.  §  144,  3,  a. 
t  For  Sit'J  read  ZZ'\     See  Ges.  §  120,  2,  a. 

X  The  text  has  nKiTn,  be  wasted,  but  the  Septuagint  have  the  equivalent 
of  1KIW1,  and  this  is  doubtless  the  correct  reading. 


VI.  12,  13]  COMMENTS.  169 

deported.  Jehovah,  not  /,  as  one  would  have  expected, 
will  remove  man  far  away.  The  rest  of  the  verse  adds 
nothing ;  yet  note  the  peculiar  word  desertion,  which 
recurs  in  xvii.  9,  where  the  destruction  of  the  Northern 
Kingdom  is  threatened.* 

13.  Lest  the  guilty  people  should  flatter  themselves 
with  hopes  of  escape  from  the  anger  of  Jehovah,  he 
finally  warns  them  that,  if  there  be  in  it,  their  land,  yet 
a  tithe  left  after  it  would  seem  to  have  suffered  suffi- 
ciently, it  also,  in  its  turn,  shall  be  consumed.  See 
Am.  vi.  9  ff.  There  follows  a  comparison :  like  the 
terebinth  and  the  oak,  of  which,  when  they  are  felled, 
there  is  a  stump ;  i.e.,  the  remnant  above  mentioned 
will  be  destroyed  as  ruthlessly,  and  as  completely,  as 
are  the  stumps  of  oaks  and  terebinths  when  the  trees 
have  been  felled.  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  practice, 
still  common,  of  using  the  roots  of  trees  for  fuel.f 

The  gist,  then,  of  the  instructions  given  to  the  prophet 
is,  that  the  people  whom  they  concern  are  to  be  entirely 
destroyed.  It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  he  obeyed 
them.  If  he  did,  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  discover  from 
his  prophecies  what  he  meant  by  this  people.  Turning 
to  them,  one  finds  that,  whatever  may  have  been  his  later 
teaching,  in  his  earlier  utterances,  although  he  betrays 
more  or  less  hope  for  Judah,  he  constantly  insists  that 

*  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  relation  of  this  chapter  to  ix.  7/8  ff. 
and  xvii.  see  Hackmann,  Z/,  75. 

t  The  text  adds,  A  holy  seed  is  its  stump,  thus  giving  an  entirely 
different  meaning  to  the  comparison.  There  are,  however,  good  reasons 
for  believing  the  words  ungenuine.  The  most  weighty  are:  (1)  that  they 
give  an  unnatural  turn  to  the  thought  of  the  chapter;  (2)  that  the  phrase 
holy  seed  bears  the  stamp  of  a  later  date;  and  (3)  that  the  entire  clause  is 
wanting  in  the  Septuagint. 


170  ISAIAH.  [VI.  13 

the  Northern  Kingdom  is  to  be  destroyed.  On  the  fate 
of  Israel  see  v.  29  and  xvii.  3,  9 ;  on  that  of  Judah,  i. 
26  and  iv.  2  ff.  It  is  instructive  to  note  also,  that,  when 
Isaiah  went  to  his  famous  interview  with  Ahaz,  at  which 
he  predicted  the  destruction  of  Israel  (vii.  16),  he  took 
with  him  Shear-yashub  as  a  pledge  of  a  better  fate  for 
Judah  (vii.  3) ;  and  that,  even  when  he  saw  that  the 
king's  wilfulness  would  be  disastrous  to  the  country,  he 
could  not  believe  that  the  Jews  would  suffer  as  severely 
as  their  neighbors  (viii.  5  ff.).  In  view  of  all  this  it 
seems  clear,  that  Israel,  and  not  Judah  (Cheyne),  or 
Judah  and  Israel  (Dillmann),  are  the  people  to  whom 
Isaiah  was  sent  with  his  first  message.  It  follows  that 
the  fulfilment  of  the  predictions  contained  in  this  mes- 
sage, as  of  those  of  Amos,  must  be  sought  in  the  Assyr- 
ian invasions  which  began  soon  after  the  date  of  the 
vision  and  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel.* 

The  preceding  chapters  have  dealt  almost  entirely 
with  the  sins  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  the  present  or 
future  consequences  of  their  transgressions.  Two  or 
three  times  there  were  glimpses  of  a  better  future ;  but 
they  were  mere  glimpses,  lasting  but  a  moment  and 
serving  only  to  make  the  present  less  endurable.  The 
remaining  chapters  are  not  without  gloomy  passages ; 
but  the  tone,  from  the  first,  is  hopeful,  and  at  last  it  be- 
comes exultant.  This  change  of  tone  is  due  to  the  fact, 
that,  in  these  chapters,  it  is  not  the  disloyal  mass,  but 

*  This  statement  ignores  the  last  three  (Hebrew)  words  of  the  chapter. 
They  were  added  by  some  one  who  either  thought  the  doomed  people 
Judah  or  wished  to  apply  the  prophecy  to  their  case,  and  who,  by  adding 
them,  made  any  other  interpretation  impossible. 


VII.  i]  COMMENTS.  171 

2.   The  Loyal  Remnant  (vii.-xii.), 

to  which  attention  is  chiefly  directed.  Taking  this  as 
the  general  subject,  one  may  divide  the  text  as  trans- 
mitted into  two  parts  and  give  to  the  first  the  heading 

a.     FAITH  AND  ITS  REWARDS  (vii.  i-ix.  6/7). 

In  it  two  sorts  of  faith  are  contrasted.     The  outcome  of 

(l)  Faith  in  Man  (vii.  i-viii.  8) — is  vividly  portrayed 
in  a  double  prophecy,  the  occasion  of  which  was  the 
Syrian  crisis.     In  the  first  half  of  the  prophecy  appears 

(a)  The  Child  Imi>ianu-el  (vii.); — the  introductory 
paragraph  describing 

a.  ahaz'  dilemma  (vv.  I -9),  —  when  Isaiah  forced 
him  to  choose  between  Jehovah  and  Tiglath-pileser. 
1.  It  was  early  in  the  days  of  Ahaz,  in  fact,  in  the  first 
year  of  his  reign  (734),  when  Resin  (Ass.  Raswiuu), 
who  had  been  king  of  Syria  since,  at  the  latest,  738  B.C. 
(Schrader,  KA  T,  253  f.),  and  Pekah,  who  had  meanwhile 
succeeded  Menahem  as  king  of  Israel,  went  up  to  Jeru- 
salem to  war  .  .  .  against  it.  In  2  Kgs.  xvi.  5  they  are 
said  to  have  besieged  Ahaz,  and  in  2  Chr.  xxviii.  5  f.  to 
have  defeated  him,  and  killed  or  captured  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  his  subjects ;  but  in  neither  place  is  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem  admitted.  Indeed,  in  Kings  as 
well  as  here,  it  is  distinctly  asserted  that  they  did  not 
prevail  *  in  their  attack. 

*  For  hy  read  "h-",  as  in  2  Kgs.  xvi.  5.  Compare  Klostermann,  who, 
in  his  note  on  the  latter  passage,  contends  that  the  subject  is  Ahaz;  and 
that,  therefore,  the  verb  should  be  singular  in  both,  while  ??;'£,  against  it, 
should  be  changed  to  BIT?!),  against  them.  The  whole  clause,  being  aside 
from  the  narrative,  should  be  treated  as  a  parenthesis.  See  the  translation 
prefixed  to  the  comments. 


172  ISAIAH.  [VII.  2,  3 

2.  The  preceding  is  a  general  statement  with  refer- 
ence to  the  war  and  its  results.  It  is  merely  introduc- 
tory to  the  account  of  the  interview  between  Ahaz  and 
Isaiah  that  follows.  This  account  explains  only  less 
directly  than  2  Kgs.  xvi.  9,  why  the  attempt  of  Resin 
and  Pekah  upon  Jerusalem  failed ;  viz.  because  the 
king  of  Assyria  came  to  Ahaz'  assistance.  The  hostile 
kings  had  not  yet  appeared  before  the  city,  when  it  was 
told  the  house  of  David,  Ahaz  and  his  court,  Syria  hath 
settled,  like  a  swarm  of  insects,*  upon  Ephraim,  having 
advanced  thus  far  in  the  march  upon  the  Jewish  capital. 
The  figure  used  implies  that  the  Syrians  were  very 
numerous.  It  is  therefore  not  strange  that,  when  Ahaz 
and  his  people  heard  this  report,  and  began  to  calculate 
the  strength  of  the  combined  armies  of  Syria  and  Israel, 
their  hearts  .  .  .  quaked  with  fear,  as  the  trees  of  the 
wood  shake  in  the  wind  :  a  beautiful  simile. 

3.  The  first  thought  of  Ahaz  was  to  put  the  city  into 
a  state  of  defence  ;  the  next,  to  appeal  to  the  king  of 
Assyria.  While  he  was  engaged  in  carrying  out  the 
first  of  these  ideas,  and  probably  before  the  second  had 
revealed  itself  in  action,  Isaiah  heard  the  voice  of  Jeho- 
vah saying  to  him,  Go  forth,  from  the  city,  to  meet  Ahaz. 
He  was  to  take  with  him  Shear-yashub,  his  son.  The 
boy  had  doubtless  been  named  "A-remnant-shall-return" 
in  obedience  to  a  divine  command  to  that  effect.  One 
would  infer  as  much  from  the  part  he  here  plays.  The 
analogy  of  Immanu-el  (v.  14)  and  Maher-shalal-hash-baz 
(viii.  3),  and  the  express  declaration  of  the  prophet,  that 

*  The  aptness  of  the  figure  testifies  to  the  genuineness  of  the  reailing, 
and  against  the  emendation  suggested  by  Lagarde,  CI?  nnfcsj,  hath  frater- 
nizedwith,  and  adopted  by  Buhl  and  Bredenkainp.     Comp.  Henderson. 


VII.  3]  COMMENTS.  173 

he  and  his  sons  were  signs  and  tokens  for  his  people 
(viii.  1 8),  confirm  this  inference.  This,  however,  means 
that,  some  time  before  the  present  date,  probably  about 
the  time  when  he  was  instructed  to  announce  the  de- 
struction of  Israel  ( vi.  13),  he  was  authorized  to  declare, 
in  the  face  of  the  dangers  then  threatening,  that  Jud 
or  a  part  thereof,  would  return  to  Jehovah  and  prosper- 
ity. He  is  now  commanded  to  take  the  boy  with  him, 
in  order  that  the  king  may  be  the  more  deeply  impressed 
by  the  spoken  message.  The  place  where  they  were  to 
find  Ahaz  was  the  end  of  the  aqueduct  of  the  Upper  Pool. 
It  is  further  described  as  the  path  to  the  Fuller's  Field. 
The  locality  is  the  same  where,  some  years  later,  Sen- 
nacherib's lieutenant  took  his  position,  when  he  demanded 
the  submission  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  17).  It  was 
probably  on  the  northern  side  of  the  city,  since  that  is 
the  side  from  which  it  would  naturally  be  approached, 
and  tradition  says  that  the  Assyrian  camp  was  located 
in  that  direction.  (See  Josephus,yji^  v.  7,  3.)  Josephus 
also  says  that,  in  his  time,  there  was  a  Fuller's  Monument 
on  that  side  of  the  city  (v.  4,  2).  If,  now,  the  aqueduct 
was  to  the  north  of  the  city,  the  pool  can  hardly  have 
been  what  is  now  called  the  Pool  of  Mamilla,  to  the 
west  of  the  city,  as  Robinson  (BRP,  I.  326  f.)  and  many, 
others  have  claimed.  See  Delitzsch.  Nor  is  it  probable 
that  it  was  a  pool  outside  the  walls  northward ;  for  the 
outside  end  of  the  aqueduct  of  such  a  pool,  if  there  was 
one,  would  be  the  pool  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
has  been  discovered  inside  the  walls,  a  little  distance 
northwest  of  the  temple  area,  a  double  pool ;  and,  near 
the  Damascus  gate,  remains  of  an  aqueduct  by  which  it 
was  once  supplied  with  water  (Wilson  and  Warren,  RJ, 


171  ISAIAH.  [VII.  3-6 

198  ff.).  This  is  probably  the  aqueduct  at  the  outer  end 
hich  Isaiah  was  to  find  Ahaz.  The  king  had  doubt- 
less  gone  there  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  the  source 
of  the  water  supplied  by  the  aqueduct,  so  that  it  would 
not  be  disturbed  by  his  enemies.     See  2  Chr.  xxxii.  3  f.* 

4.  Isaiah's  message  was  one  of  encouragement :  Take 
heed  to  be  calm ;  see  to  it  that  thou  art  not  disturbed. 
Com  p.  Calvin.  He  saw  no  reason  for  great  alarm.  To 
him  the  two  kings  whose  on-coming  Ahaz  dreaded  were 
but  two  smoking  f  stumps  of  firebrands.  The  smoking 
bits  of  wood  about  a  dying  fire  are  not  very  dangerous ; 
neither,  the  prophet  would  say,  these  waning  powers 
already  doomed  to  destruction.  His  contempt  for  Pekah 
is  such  that,  instead  of  calling  him  by  name,  he  refers  to 
him  as  the  son  of  Remaliah,  thus  recalling  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  usurper.     See  1  Sam.  xx.  27;  xxii.  12. 

5.  The  invasion  was  prompted  by  the  anger  of  the 
kings  of  Syria  and  Israel  at  Ahaz,  and  its  object  was 
his  overthrow.  The  occasion  of  their  anger,  as  has 
already  been  suggested  (Iritr.  Stud.  II.),  is  supposed  to 
have  been  his  refusal  to  join  them  in  a  revolt  against 
Assyria. 

6.  Their  plan,  in  its  details,  was  to  go  up  against 
Judah;   by  their  numbers  terrify  it, ^  —  not  Jerusalem 

*  Stade  {GVI,  I,  591  f.)  identifies  the  pool  with  one  near  the  present 
Pool  of  Siloam,  which  Guthe  unearthed  in  18S1  {ZDPV,  1S82,  526°.); 
and  the  aqueduct  with  one  by  which  water  was  carried  thence  into  the 
Kidron  valley,  where  he  supposes  the  Fuller's  Field  to  have  been.  The 
name  borne  by  the  well  in  the  valley  of  the  Kidron  south  of  Jerusalem, 
might  be  cited  in  support  of  this  theory;  but  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
what  Ahaz  could  have  been  doing  at  the  (lower)  end  of  a  conduit  running 
in  that  direction.         f  On  the  construction  of  DTkl'l",  see  Ges.  §  132,  1. 

%  The  verb  is  not  elsewhere  used  in  the  causative  stem.     Hence  it  has 


VII.  6-8]  COMMENTS.  175 

(Delitzsch),  but  Judah;  taking  advantage  of  the  conster- 
nation produced,  overpower  it  (lit.  break  it  open) ;  and, 
finally,  seat  upon  its  throne  the  son  of  Tabeal.  The 
person  so  called  is  not  otherwise  known.  The  omission 
of  his  name  indicates  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the  prophet, 
he  was  of  no  great  importance.  He  was  probably  a 
Syrian,  the  name  Tabeal  being  Aramaic,  and  either  a 
relative  or  a  dependent  of  Resin.* 

7.  The  plan  to  overthrow  the  Davidic  dynasty  Jeho- 
vah regards  as  a  conspiracy  against  himself.  He  there- 
fore announces  his  determination  to  frustrate  it :  It  shall 
not .  .  .  come  to  pass. 

8.  Lest  Ahaz  should  hesitate  to  trust  himself  in  the 
hands  of  his  God,  Isaiah  is  instructed  to  show  him  how 
weak  his  enemies  really  are.  the  head  of  Syria,  its  cap- 
ital, and  the  chief  source  of  its  strength,  is  Damascus, 
the  same  that  was  subdued  by  David  and  forced  to  receive 
a  Hebrew  garrison  (2  Sam.  viii.  6);  and  the  head  of 
Damascus,  its  king  and  its  champion,  Resin,  a  mere 
man,  who  has  not  yet  shown  himself  invincible.  Here 
follows  in  the  text  a  sentence  that  is  clearly  an  inter- 
been  suggested  that  H^'pO  is  a  scribal  error  for  "Ip"!*;,  distress,  an  emen- 
dation favored  by  xxix.  2  (Gesenius,  T/ies.),  or  M3Sri3,  destroy  (Lagarde). 
See  also  the  versions.  The  use  of  \"p  in  v.  16,  where  the  actual  effect  of 
the  invasion  is  described,  however,  seems  to  prove  the  correctness  of  the 
reading  found  in  the  text. 

*  The  text  has  ^XZ'^,  which  is  usually  explained  as  a  pausal  form  of 
b$-'£  (Ezra  iv.  7),  the  Aramaic  for  T>N2b,  good  (is)  God  (Miihlau  &  Volck)  ; 
but  a  better  is  that  of  Luzzatto;  viz.  that  the  original  reading  was  7K2E, 
and  that  the  last  vowel  was  changed  to  make  the  word  mean  Good-for- 
nothing  and  express  the  contempt  of  the  Masoretes  for  the  would-be  king. 
The  Septuagint  have  Tabeel.  Comp.  Winckler,  AU,  73  ff.,  according  to 
whom  bX2'0,  Aramaic  for  the  wbit  (  God  knows)  of  1  Kgs.  xi.  23,  is  here 
the  name  of  the  father  and  predecessor  of  Resin. 


176  ISAIAH.  [VII.  8,  9 

polation.  In  the  first  place,  it  disturbs  the  connection. 
This  objection  might  be  met  by  removing  the  words  in 
question  to  the  next  verse;  but  there  are  two  others  that 
cannot  so  easily  be  disposed  of.  These  are  :  ( i )  that  it 
is  not  in  the  manner  of  Isaiah;  and  (2)  that  it  contra- 
dicts v.  16  and  viii.  4,  where  a  much  speedier  overthrow 
of  Ephraim  is  announced.  The  gloss  was  probably 
added  because  the  destruction  of  Israel  by  Sargon  was 
not  so  complete  as  the  genuine  predictions  of  Isaiah 
were  supposed  to  require,  or  as  it  actually  became  in 
consequence  of  the  changes  in  the  population  effected 
by  Esarhaddon  (681-668  b.c.)  and  Asshurbanipal  (668- 
626  b.c).  See  Ezr.  iv.  2,  10;  Schrader,  KAT,  373  ff. 
sixty  and  five  years  from  the  date  of  Isaiah's  interview 
with  Ahaz  would  be  about  669  b.c* 

9.  As  in  the  case  of  Syria,  so  in  that  of  Israel,  there 
is  nothing  to  fear  unless  its  strength  is  overestimated. 
It  has,  to  be  sure,  its  son  of  Remaliah ;  but  who  is  he 
compared  with  Jehovah,  the  Champion  of  Jerusalem  and 
Judah  ?  f  Ahaz,  therefore,  to  be  safe,  has  only  to  trust 
in  Jehovah.  If,  however,  he  will  not  do  this,  Isaiah  is 
to  withdraw  the  assurance  of  divine  help  and  say  to 
him,  ye  shall  not  abide  (lit.  be  establislicd).% 

The  above  is,  in  form,  an  account  of  the  instructions 
given  to  Isaiah  before  his  interview  with  Ahaz;  but  it 

*  The  order  of  the  numerals  used  is  an  indication  of  lateness  of  date. 
See  Ges.  §97,  3;   Kon.  II.  1,  215  ff. 

t  A  comparison  between  the  sources  of  the  strength  of  the  allies  and 
Jehovah  is  so  clearly  intended  that  Ewald  supplies  the  corresponding  state- 
ment.    See  also  Cheyne  {IB I,  395). 

%  The  rendering  adopted  is  that  suggested  by  the  translators  of  Kittel's 
His/ory  of  the  Hebrews,  II.  344.  The  original  has  the  same  word  in  different 
forms  to  denote  the  exercise  of  confidence  and  the  experience  of  security. 


VII .  9- 1 1  ]  COMMENTS.  1 77 

is  probably,  in  reality,  a  record  of  the  message  as  it  was 
delivered  on  the  occasion  of  that  interview.  The  mes- 
sage evidently  did  not  produce  the  desired  effect. 
Therefore  the  prophet  received  a  second  concerning 

/3.     A      SIGN      AND      ITS      SIGNIFICANCE     (w.      10-17). — 

10.  The  time  and  place,  when  and  where  this  message 
was  received  or  delivered,  are  not  given ;  but  the  con- 
nection with  the  first  one  is  so  close,  that  one  seems 
justified  in  inferring,  that  the  king,  when  exhorted  to 
trust  in  Jehovah,  manifested  a  contrary  disposition, 
whereupon  the  prophet  was  at  once  moved  to  propose 
a  sign  as  an  earnest  of  the  divine  favor.  Hence  Jeho- 
vah is  represented  as  speaking  further  to  Ahaz.  Isaiah 
having,  so  to  speak,  brought  the  two  together,  regards 
himself  simply  as  a  mouth-piece.  Comp.  Nagelsbach.* 
11.  Ahaz  is  directed  to  Ask  ...  a  sign  that  the  words  of 
the  prophet  are  the  words  of  God.  See  2  Kgs.  xx.  9  ff. 
The  title  given  to  the  Deity,  Jehovah,  thy  God,  is  en- 
couraging. Comp.  v.  13.  The  king  is  given  the  largest 
liberty  in  the  choice  of  this  token.  He  may  go  as  deep 
as  Sheol,f  the  extreme  to  which  the  imagination  has  pene- 
trated downward ;  or  into  the  heights,  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  opposite  direction ;  require,  e.g.,  an  earthquake  or 
the  obscuration  of  one  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  if  such 
a  phenomenon  will  help  him  to  trust  in  Jehovah  for 
deliverance.  I 

*  Duhm  omits  the  subject,  and,  for  spVl,  reads  P|D1K1;  but,  if  the  text 
is  to  be  changed,  it  is  better,  in  harmony  with  v.  3,  either  simply  to  drop 
n*.T,  Jehovah,  or  to  replace  it  by  l.TW,  Isaiah. 

t  The  text  has  H^Sw  pElTI,  ask  deep,  but  rbvfob,  above,  requires  rhtiV, 
in  the  direction  of  Sheol.     Comp.  Henderson. 

%  The  question  has  been  raised,  whether  Isaiah  .really  believed  that  any 
sign  which  Ahaz  might  designate  would  be  granted  (Lagarde),  but  it  is 


17S  ISAIAH.  [VII.  12-14 

12.  Ahaz  replies,  I  will  not  ask  one,  and  adds,  as  an 
explanation  of  his  refusal,  nor  will  I  prove  Jehovah.  To 
prove  a  person  is  to  subject  him  to  a  test  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  whether  he  is  reliable.  It  always 
implies  doubt,  and  thus  becomes  a  reflection  upon  the 
character  of  the  given  person.  The  words  of  Ahaz 
were  probably  intended  to  convey  the  impression,  that 
he  declined  the  offer  made  him  through  fear  of  offend- 
ing Jehovah  as  did  his  forefathers  at  Massah  (Ex.  xvii. 
2,  7) ;  but  the  real  reason  undoubtedly  was,  that,  to  ask 
for  a  sign  would  be  equivalent  to  pledging  himself  to 
abandon  a  policy  of  his  own  for  the  one  outlined  by 
Isaiah. 

13.  The  prophet,  indignant  at  the  king's  hypocrisy, 
now  changes  his  tone.  Hear,  0  house  of  David,  he  says,* 
for  Ahaz  was  probably  accompanied  by  other  members 
of  the  royal  family,  Is  it  too  little  for  you  to  weary  men, 
the  wiser  men  of  the  time,  who,  presumably,  like  Isaiah, 
had  clone  what  they  could  to  prevent  the  king  from 
throwing  himself  into  the  arms  of  Tiglath-pileser ;  the 
patriotic  party  (viii.  16) ;  that  ye  must  also  weary  my 
God  ?  by  persistently  rejecting  his  overtures.  Compare 
the  tone  and  phraseology  of  v.  II. 

14.  The  evident  indignation  of  Isaiah  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  the  interpretation  of  what  follows.  He 
proceeds :  Therefore,  because  thou  hast  refused  to  be 

unworthy  of  consideration;  for,  to  suppose  that  his  offer  was  not  a  genuine 
one,  is  to  accuse  him  of  a  shortsightedness  or  duplicity  of  which  he  was 
utterly  incapable. 

*  Here,  although  the  subject  is  not  expressed,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  speaker  is  Isaiah.  If,  therefore,  it  was  Jehovah  in  v.  10,  this  is  another 
instance  of  inconsistency  like  that  in  vi.  12.  Duhm  prefers  to  read  lEX", 
and  I  said. 


VII.  i4]  COMMENTS.  179 

convinced,  and  thus  virtually  rejected  the  policy  pro- 
posed, will  the  Lord  himself  give  you  a  sign.  If  this 
sign  is  to  be  given  on  account  of  Ahaz'  refusal  to  ask 
for  one,  its  intent  cannot  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  one 
offered  but  declined.  It  will  be  dictated  by  the  feeling 
which  expressed  itself  in  the  phrase  my  God,  rather  than 
by  that  which  manifested  itself  in  the  thy  God  oi  v.  1 1  ; 
and  be  calculated  to  confound,  rather  than  to  comfort, 
the  king.  This  being  the  case,  the  words  that  imme- 
diately follow  cannot  be  taken  as  completely  describing 
this  sign,  since  in  themselves  they  imply  the  favor  of 
Jehovah ;  but  the  rest  of  this  verse  must  be  connected 
with  the  next  one,  where  the  real  attitude  of  the  prophet 
and  his  God  toward  Ahaz  becomes  apparent :  in  other 
words,  the  sign  is  twofold.  The  first  part  of  it  relates 
to  the  birth  of  Immanu-el.  The  boy's  mother  is  called 
the  young  woman.*  The  mistaken  notion  that  her 
identity  is  of  consequence  has  given  rise  to  a  great 
variety  of  conjectures.  The  early  Christians,  as  is  well 
known,  saw  in  her  none  other  than  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  their  view  is  still  current  (Kay);  f  although  it  would 
seem  self-evident  that  the  birth  of  a  child  more  than 

*  The  rendering  virgin,  although  endorsed  by  the  versions,  is  incorrect. 
The  word  HE^U  denotes  a  marriageable  female,  without  especial  reference 
to  her  character  or  condition.  See  Gen.  xxiv.  43;  Prv.  xxx.  19.  If  Isaiah 
had  intended  to  describe  the  person  in  question  as  a  virgin,  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term,  he  would  have  used  rfcirQ.  See  Gen.  xxiv.  16;  comp. 
Alexander. 

t  A  warrant  for  this  view  is  sought  in  Mat.  i.  22  f. ;  but  an  examination 
of  the  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  in  this  gospel  will  show,  that 
the  author  did  not  pretend  to  use  the  passages  quoted  in  their  original 
sense,  and  that,  therefore,  the  fact  of  his  saying  that  the  words  of  Isaiah 
were  fulfilled  in  the  birth  of  Jesus,  proves  nothing  whatever  with  reference 
to  their  original  meaning. 


ISO'  ISAIAH.  [VII.  14 

seven  centuries  after  Ahaz'  death  could  hardly  be  called 
a  sign  to  the  king  and  his  contemporaries.*  The  Jews, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  identified  this  young  woman 
with  the  wife,  either  of  Ahaz  (Kimchi)  or  Isaiah  (Aben 
Ezra),  and  some  Christian  scholars  have  adopted  the 
latter  opinion  (Knobel).  Unfortunately  for  both  of  these 
theories,  the  only  women  who  are  known  to  have  borne 
the  relation  of  wife  to  the  men  named,  had,  at  the  date 
of  this  prophecy,  according  to  the  chronology  of  the 
kings  of  Judah,  ceased  to  be  young  women  in  the  sense 
here  intended  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  2  ;  Isa.  vii.  3) ;  and  there  is 
nothing  in  the  passage  to  require  the  creation  of  a  rival 
for  either  of  them.  There  is  equally  little  evidence  that 
the  young  woman  is  merely  a  personification  for  Zion 
(Orelli).  There  remains  the  interpretation  according  to 
which  the  young  woman  was  one,  in  herself  of  no  par- 
ticular importance,  either  actually  present  when  the 
prophet  spoke  (Umbreit),  or  merely  present  to  his  im- 
agination (Duhm).  In  the  latter  case  she  might  not 
only  be  any  one  of  her  class,  but  first  one  and  then 
another ;  in  other  words,  the  prophecy  concerning  her 
might  meet  with  more  than  one  fulfilment,  so  that  one 
might  say  either  the,  or  a,  young  woman,  or  even  young 
women.\  At  first  sight  it  does  not  seem  of  much  con- 
sequence which  form  of  this  fourth  interpretation  be 
adopted.  On  closer  examination,  however,  the  first  will 
be  found  untenable:  for,  (1)  it  gives  to  the  sign  too 

*  The  difficulty  is  only  shifted  by  the  (wholly  unwarranted)  supposition 
that  the  prophets  saw  things  without  perspective  (Delitzsch). 

t  The  Hebrew,  like  the  English,  article,  is  used  to  designate  particular 
persons  or  things;  but  it  is  also  employed  when  an  individual  chosen  at 
will  is  to  receive  attention.  See  2  Sam.  xvii.  17;  Ges.  §  126,  4;  Dav. 
§21,  e. 


VII.  i4]  COMMENTS.  1S1 

much  of  the  character  of  a  mere  wonder ;  *  (2)  leaves 
room  for  doubt  as  to  its  reality  ;  and  (3)  robs  it  of  much 
of  its  value  as  a  proof  of  divine  interference.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  will  appear,  the  second,  according  to 
which  the  young  woman  was  an  indefinite  person,  gives 
to  the  sign  a  breadth  of  application  that  makes  it  at 
once  unmistakable  and  irresistible.  Of  this  young 
woman  Isaiah  says  that  she  shall  now  conceive,  become 
pregnant,!  and,  in  due  time,  bear  a  son,  and  call  %  his 
name  Immanu-el.  A  literal  translation  of  this  name 
would  be  Witli-us-God,  a  phrase,  which,  taken  by  itself, 
might  be  regarded  as  a  description  of  the  character  of 
the  child  who  was  to  bear  it.  It  has,  in  fact,  been  so 
regarded.  In  other  words,  it  is  held  to  be  an  explicit 
statement  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus.  But,  in  the  first 
place,  With-us-God  is  not  a  correct  rendering  of  Im- 
manu-el. The  name  is  formed  after  the  analogy  of 
Hephzi-bah,  which  means,  not  My-delight-in-Jier,  but  My- 
delig]U-(is)-in-Jicr.  That  the  copula  is  to  be  supplied  in 
the  rendering  of  Immanu-el  is  clear  from  viii.  10,  where 
the  two  words  of  which  it  is  compounded,  unmistakably 
used  in  allusion  to  this  passage,  cannot  be  put  into  Eng- 
lish without  is.  The  name  should  therefore  be  translated 
God-is-with-ns.     But  God  is  with  us  describes  a  state  of 

*  See  Nagelsbach's  ingenious,  but  repulsive,  variation  upon  it. 

f  The  rendering  hath  conceived,  is  pregnant,  though  grammatical,  is 
hardly  allowable,  since  such  a  translation  would  furnish  no  clue  to  the 
date  of  the  child's  birth. 

%  The  word  DiOp  is  pointed  as  an  irregular  form  of  the  3d  fern.  sing. 
of  the  perfect  of  K~i,"3.  See  Ges.  §74,  3,  R.  I.  The  Septuagint  took  it 
for  the  2d  mas.  sing.,  and  it  is  so  pointed  in  a  few  codices.  Neither  is  the 
true  reading;  which  is  plainly  the  participle,  J"lN"p  {Toy).  See  Hr?  ; 
Ges.  §  74,  3,  R.  3;   comp.  Dillmann. 


1S2  ISAIAH.  [VII.  14,  15 

things,  not  the  nature  of  a  person.  Like  Ben-oni  (Gen. 
xxxv.  18),  therefore,  and  I-kabod  (1  Sam.  iv.  21),  it  is  to 
be  interpreted  as  reflecting  the  conditions  under  which 
the  child  is  to  be  born.  In  other  words,  Isaiah  says, 
that,  by  the  time  a  child,  conceived  at  the  date  of  his 
prophecy,  is  born,  the  condition  of  Judah  will  be  so 
much  improved  that  the  mother  of  the  child  will  be 
prompted  to  give  him  such  a  name  as  Immanu-el.  Such 
a  name,  be  it  observed ;  for  Isaiah,  when  he  uttered  the 
prophecy,  probably  did  not  mean  to  predict  that  any 
child  would  actually  bear  this  exact  name,  but  that  cir- 
cumstances would  be  such  as  to  suggest  one  of  this 
sort.  If,  therefore,  any  young  mother,  in  her  gratitude 
for  the  deliverance  of  her  country  from  the  danger  that 
had  threatened  it,  called  her  first-born  (say)  Joshua 
{Jehovah  is  help),  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  Indeed, 
one  may  go  even  farther  and  say,  that,  if  such  a  deliver- 
ance was  wrought,  whether  the  gratitude  of  the  people 
expressed  itself  in  this  or  some  other  way,  the  prophet 
was  vindicated.* 

15.  Within  a  few  months,  says  Isaiah,  Jehovah  will 
seem  to  have  come  to  the  rescue  of  Judah.  This,  how- 
ever, as  has  already  been  suggested,  is,  and  can  be, 
only  a  part  of  the  sign  with  which  he  met  the  king's 
unbelief.  There  must  be  another  side  to  it.  This  ex- 
pectation is  realized  in  the  words  that  follow.  They 
constitute  a  statement  like  the  one  already  made ;  but, 
since  an  antithesis  was  clearly  intended,  it  is  proper  to 

*  To  any  one  who  should  insist  upon  a  stricter  application  of  the  words 
of  the  prophet,  it  would,  perhaps,  not  be  unfair  to  cite  the  fact,  that 
Matthew  does  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  the  name  Jesus  (Joshua)  was  given 
to  the  son  of  Mary  in  fulfilment  of  them  (Mat.  i.  22). 


VII.  is]  COMMENTS.  183 

connect  the  two  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  this  fact 
apparent.  One  may  therefore,  instead  of  Lo,  the  young 
woman  shall  conceive,  etc.,  say,  Lo,  the  young  woman 
that  shall  conceive,  etc.,  or  even,  Though  a  young  zvoman 
conceive,  and  bear  a  son,  and  call  his  name  Immauu-cl, 
curds  and  honey  shall  he  eat.  The  mention  of  these 
two  articles  of  food  was  once  supposed  to  indicate  that 
the  youth  of  the  child  was  to  be  spent  in  the  midst  of 
plenty  (Vitringa) ;  but  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that 
they  are  here,  neither,  as  in  Ex.  iii.  8,  symbols  of  fer- 
tility, nor  the  customary  food  of  infants  (Kay),  but  that 
they  imply  the  devastation  of  the  country,  and  the  re- 
duction of  its  inhabitants  to  the  necessity  of  subsisting 
on  the  most  primitive  fare.  By  curds  are  meant  the 
curdled  milk  with  which  Abraham  refreshed  his  visitors 
(Gen.  xviii.  8),  and  of  which,  under  the  name  leben,  the 
Arabs  of  the  present  day  consume  large  quantities  (Van 
Lennep,  BL,  403  f.);  and  by  honey,  the  wild  honey, 
still  abundant  in  Palestine  (Tristram,  NHB,  322  ff.),  on 
which  John  the  Baptist  largely  subsisted  while  in  the 
desert  (Mat.  iii.  4).  These  are  to  be  Immanu-el's  meat ; 
not  at  first,  for  the  state  of  things  existing  at  his  birth 
is  to  be  of  some  duration  ;  but  when,  or  by  the  time 
that,*  he  hath  learned  to  reject  the  bad  t  and  prefer  the 
good.  There  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  knowledge  to 
reject  the  bad  and  prefer  the  good  is  equivalent  to  the 

*  Several  of  the  versions,  and  some  modern  scholars  (Bredenkamp), 
take  v  in  the  final  sense  of  that ;  but  such  a  rendering,  if  it  were  intel- 
ligible, would  be  forbidden  by  the  entire  context.  The  child  has  no  sig- 
nificance in  himself.  His  birth,  according  to  v.  14,  merely  marks  a  date; 
and  so,  here,  must  his  arrival  at  the  first  stage  in  his  development.  The 
translation  until  (Reuss)  is  equally  objectionable.     See  x.  3;   Gen.  vii.  4. 

t  On  the  construction  of  1TD  C1XB,  see  Ges.  §  113,  1,  c  and  e. 


1S4  ISAIAH.  [VII.  15,  16 

knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  in  one  or  the  other  of  the 
two  senses  in  which  this  expression  is  used  in  the  Old 
Testament ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  Isaiah 
here  means  the  ability  to  make  moral  distinctions 
(Gen.  iii.),  or  simply  the  capacity  for  choosing  one's 
own  food  (Deu.  i.  39).  The  former  view  is  the  more 
common  (Dclitzsch),  but  the  latter  seems  the  more  de- 
fensible. (1)  It  has  in  its  favor  the  description  of  the 
child's  diet;  (2)  it  brings  v.  16  into  harmony  with  viii. 
4;  and  (3)  it  does  justice  to  the  general  impression 
of  both  chapters,  to  the  effect  that  the  chastisement  of 
Judah  is  to  follow  comparatively  closely  upon  the  de- 
struction of  their  enemies.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  is 
safest  to  suppose  that  the  prophet  had  in  mind  the 
earlier  of  the  two  ages  mentioned.  At  this  tender  age, 
upon  being  weaned,  he  who  seemed  born  to  enjoy  pros- 
perity and  abundance  will  become  acquainted  with 
poverty  and  privation,  living  on  curds  and  honey  like 
other  survivors  of  a  devastating  war.* 

16.  for  introduces  the  interpretation  of  the  sign  prom- 
ised, or  rather  threatened.  See  v.  7.  There  follows 
an  undisguised  statement :  before  the  arrival  of  the  boy 
whose  birth  is  predicted  in  v.  14  at  the  age  indicated 
in  v.  15,  in  other  words,  within  three  or  four  years 
(2  Mac.  vii.  27),  the*  soil,  or  country,  whose  two  kings, 
Resin  and  Pekah,  thou  dreadest,  shall  be  forsaken.  At 
first  sight,  there  seems  to  be  a  discrepancy  between  this 
statement  and  the  more  figurative  representation  of 
v.  14,  but  the  difficulty  is  not  serious.     It  disappears  on 

*  It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  sign  would  not  be  complete  with- 
out this  fifteenth  verse.  This  being  granted,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  seeing 
Isaiah's  hand  in  it.     Comp.  Cheyne  (IBI). 


VII.  i6,  17]  COMMENTS.  1S5 

noticing  that,  in  v.  14,  it  is  the  immediate  effect  upon 
Judah,  while  here  it  is  the  ultimate  consequences  to  the 
allies,  of  the  interference  of  Assyria,  that  Isaiah  is  de- 
scribing. There  would  naturally  be  an  interval  between 
them.  The  prophet  says,  that,  at  the  longest,  it  will  be 
one  of  two  or  three  years.* 

17.  He  next  proceeds  to  explain  the  other  side  of  the 
sign.  Jehovah,  whose  counsel  has  been  rejected,  will 
bring  upon  thee,  and  upon  thy  people,  because  they  are 
like-minded,  and  upon  thy  father's  house,  the  Davidic 
dynasty,  days  such  as  have  not  come  upon  them,  since, 
in  the  reign  of  Rehoboam  (1  Kgs.  xii.  1  ff.),  Ephraim, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  tribes,  except  Benjamin,  separated 
from  Judah,  and  organized  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  That 
was  a  sad  day  for  the  house  of  David  and  the  Hebrew 
people ;  but  not  more  calamitous  than  the  one  that  is 
coming.  No  date  is  given,  but,  from  a  comparison  of 
w.  15  and  17,  it  would  appear  that  the  prophet  expected 
the  calamity  predicted  to  follow  close  upon  the  over- 
throw of  the  allied  kingdoms.! 

This,  then,  is  the  twofold  sign  given  to  Ahaz :  that, 
when  a  child,  conceived  soon  after  the  interview,  was 
born,  the  country  would  have  been  relieved  from  its 
present  danger;  but  that,  within  two  or  three  more 
years,  a  greater  would  have  overtaken  it.  It  is  some- 
times objected,  that,  on  such  an  interpretation,  the  so- 

*  Buhl  omits  the  relative  clause,  whose  tivo  kings  thou  dreadest,  and 
interprets  the  remainder  as  a  prediction  of  the  abandonment  of  Judah. 
The  objection  to  so  doing  is,  that  Isaiah  does  not  seem  to  have  expected 
his  own  country  to  be  so  thoroughly  devastated. 

t  This  verse,  also,  is  rejected  by  some  of  the  later  critics;  but,  if  v.  15 
is  genuine,  this  one  must  be  retained,  except  the  phrase,  the  king  of 
Assyria,  which  is  a  wholly  superfluous  gloss. 


1S6  ISAIAH.  [VII.  17 

called  sign  was,  after  all,  in  no  proper  sense  a  sign  to 
Ahaz.  The  objector,  however,  overlooks  two  things. 
The  first  is  the  change  of  treatment  required  by  the 
king  after  his  refusal  of  a  sign  calculated  to  strengthen 
his  faith  in  Jehovah.  He  would  not  be  convinced.  A 
sign  such  as,  according  to  2  Kgs.  xx.  n,  was  afterward 
granted  to  Hezekiah,  therefore,  would  have  been  wasted 
upon  him.  It  should  also,  in  the  second  place,  be  re- 
membered, that,  in  the  Old  Testament,  a  sign  is  not 
always  a  pledge,  but  is  sometimes  a  proof.  There  are 
several  examples  of  this  latter  usage,  but  the  one  most 
to  the  point  is  in  Ex.  iii.  12,  where  Jehovah  says  to 
Moses,  "  I  will  surely  be  with  thee ;  and  this  shall  be 
to  thee  a  sign  that  I  myself  sent  thee :  when  thou 
bringest  the  people  forth  from  Egypt,  ye  shall  serve 
God  in  this  mountain."  In  this  case  the  sign  is  the 
worship  of  Jehovah  at  Sinai.  The  event  is  foretold, 
that,  when  it  occurs,  it  may  convince  Moses,  that  he 
who  sent  him  on  his  mission  to  Egypt  was  none  other 
than  the  God  of  his  fathers.  See  also  2  Kgs.  xix.  29. 
The  sign  actually  given  to  Ahaz  was  of  this  sort.  As 
soon  as  relief  from  the  fear  of  the  allies  came,  he  would 
be  reminded  of  his  interview  with  Isaiah  ;  and  when  the 
second  part  of  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  he  would  be 
convinced  that  the  prophet  actually  spoke  for  God. 
Then  and  thereafter,  any  child  born  during  the  respite, 
whose  name  reflected  the  circumstances  of  his  birth, 
would  recall  Isaiah's  divinely  inspired  foresight  and  his 
own  short-sighted  obstinacy.*     Comp.  GASmith. 

*  For  a  more  complete  discussion  of  this  prophecy,  see  an  article  en- 
titled "  Immanu-el ;  Prophecy  and  Fulfillment,"  in  the  Andover  Review 
for  April,  1891.     See  also  Torter,  JBL,  1895,  l9& 


VII.  17,  1 8]  COMMENTS.  187 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah  was  fulfilled ;  for  the  Hebrew  historians  state, 
that,  at  this  juncture,  Tiglath-pilescr  attacked,  first  Israel 
(2  Kgs.  xv.  29),  and  then  Syria  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  1),  and 
carried  many  of  both  peoples  into  captivity ;  while  the 
Assyrian  king  testifies,  that  all  this  happened  within 
three  years  of  the  date  at  which  the  words  must  have 
been  spoken.  For  details  see  Intr.  Stud.  II.  The 
chastisement  of  Judah  did  not  follow  as  soon  as  was 
expected ;  but  it  came  at  last,  and,  when  it  came,  the 
Assyrians,  as  the  prophet  had  predicted,  were  the  in- 
struments of  its  infliction. 

The   remainder   of    the   chapter   describes    more   in 

detail 

7.     THE     DEVASTATION      OF     JUDAH    (w.     1 8-2 5).  It 

consists  of  a  collection  of  Isaianic  sayings  on  the  sub- 
ject, most  of  which  are  probably  of  nearly  the  same 
date  with,  although  they  do  not  belong  to,  the  interview 
with  Ahaz.* 

iS.  On  the  phrase  in  that  day,  which  occurs  no  fewer 
than  four  times  in  this  paragraph,  see  on  ii.  11.  The 
figure  of  v.  26  is  repeated,  but  this  time  Jehovah  will 
shrill  to  the  fly  that  is  at  the  end  of  the  rivers  of  Egypt, 
as  well  as  the  bee  that  is  in  the  land  of  Assyria.  By 
the  fly  are  meant  the  Ethiopians,  for  they  controlled 
Egypt  while  Isaiah  prophesied.  The  rivers,  therefore, 
are  the  tributaries  of  the  Nile  in  the  remote  South.  In 
734  B.C.,  however,  there  was  little  reason  to  apprehend 
trouble  from    this  quarter,  the  Ethiopians  being  fully 

*  Ilackmann  (Z/,  66 f.)  thinks  that  it  is  the  fortunes  of  Israel,  rather 
than  those  of  Judah,  which  are  the  subject  of  these  verses. 


18S  ISAIAH.  [VII.  i3-2i 

occupied  in  maintaining  their  supremacy  on  the  lower 
Nile  (Rawlinson,  SAE,  317  ff . ;  Meyer,  GA,  427  f.); 
which  fact  makes  it  probable  that  this  verse  and  the 
one  following  belong  to  a  later  date,  when  Hezekiah 
was  appealing  to  Tirhaka  against  his  Assyrian  master. 
See  xxx.  1  f.* 

19.  The  Ethiopian  and  Assyrian  invaders  shall  come 
and  overspread  the  land,  as  flies  and  bees  settle  ...  in 
the  yawning  water-courses,  the  wadies  with  lofty,  pre- 
cipitous banks,  running  east  and  west  from  the  plateau 
called  "the  highlands  of  Judah"  (GASmith,  HGHL, 
263,  287,  289);  the  clefts,  natural  caverns  in  the  lime- 
stone cliffs ;  the  thorn-trees,  with  which  the  country  is 
still  dotted  ;  and  the  outlying  pastures  :  they  will  swarm 
in  the  land.     See  Jud.  vi.  5. 

20.  The  figure  is  now  changed  to  one  suggested  by 
Ahaz'  appeal  to  Tiglath-pileser.  The  former  had 
stripped  his  palace  and  robbed  the  temple  to  hire  the 
latter  to  invade  Israel  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  8);  Jehovah  now  pro- 
poses to  shave  with  the  same  razor,  hired  beyond  the 
River  Euphrates,  both  head  and  trunk  (lit.  head,  and 
hair  of  the  feet),  the  entire  (figurative)  body.  This 
means,  of  course,  that  Judah  is  to  be  entirely  overrun 
by  the  enemy.  The  additional  statement,  yea,  even  the 
beard  shall  it  remove,  indicates  that  the  invasion  is  to 
be  to  the  last  degree  humiliating.     See  2  Sam.  x.  4.! 

21.  The  extent  of  the  devastation  to  be  expected  is 
illustrated  by  an  example,     if  a  man,  a  survivor  of  the 

*  Duhm  omits  the  relative  clauses,  both  of  them,  as  glosses,  and  thus 
brings  the  verse  into  harmony  with  the  context.     So,  also,  Cheyne  (//>/). 

t  The  explanation,  with  the  king  of  Assyria,  is  altogether  unnecessary, 
and  therefore,  without  doubt,  another  gloss. 


VII.  21-25]  COMMENTS.  189 

invasion,  keep,  having  saved  them  from  seizure  and 
slaughter  by  the  enemy,  a  heifer  and  two  sheep,  the 
smallest  remnant  of  his  former  wealth  in  cattle ; 

22.  he  will  yet  have  an  abundance  of  .  .  .  milk.  His 
dairy  will  yield  abundantly,  for  one  so  small,  on  account 
of  the  wide  range  over  which  the  cattle  can  feed,  and 
the  abundance  will  seem  the  greater  on  account  of  the 
smallness  of  the  number  left  to  share  the  curds  made 
from  the  milk.  There  will,  indeed,  be  curds  enough, 
and  honey ;  but  these  will  be  the  sole  sustenance,  so 
completely  will  the  land  be  stripped,  of  those  who  are 
left,  the  child  Immanu-el  among  them,  in  the  land ; 
scattered  through  it  (v.  8). 

23.  The  vineyards  will  have  entirely  disappeared, 
even  the  choicest;  for  every  place  where  there  are 
now  a  thousand  vines  worth  a  thousand  pieces  of  silver, 
six  hundred  dollars,  or  about  sixty  cents  apiece  (Riehm, 
HBA,  art.  Sckcl)*  there  will  then  be  nothing  but  thorns 
and  briers,  f 

24.  To  these  thorny  thickets  men  will  go  with  the 
bow  and  arrows,  |  the  weapons  commonly  used  in  hunt- 
ing (Ragozin,  SA,  405  ff.),  in  search  of  game.  On  the 
rapidity  with  which  wild  animals  multiplied  under  such 
circumstances,  see  2  Kgs.  xvii.  25. 

25.  The  vineyards  of  Palestine  were  usually  on  the 
slopes  of  the  hills  (v.  1).  Hence  it  is  probable  that 
the  hills  here  mentioned  are  the  hills  on  which  the  vine- 

*  This  means  only  that  the  shekel  contained  14.55  grammes,  or  about  a 
sixth  more  silver  than  the  American  half-dollar. 

f  The  final  (TiT,  shall  be,  is  redundant. 

X  The  Hebrew  order  is  arrows  and  the  bow.  See  also  the  phrase  bad  or 
good  (Gen.  xxiv.  50). 


J 90  ISAIAH.  [VII.  25-VIII.  1 

yards  just  described  are  situated,  and  that  this  verse  is 
but  a  variation  upon  the  theme  of  the  two  preceding. 
It  ought,  therefore,  to  harmonize  with  them.  It  does, 
if  the  remainder  means,  that  these  hills,  now  digged 
with  the  mattock,  most  carefully  cultivated,  whither,  on 
that  account,  the  fear  of  thorns  and  briers  cometh  not, 
shall  be  a  range  (lit.  place  to  scud)  for  oxen,  and  a  place 
for  sheep  to  trample  ;  shall  become  pasture.* 

The  interview  between  Isaiah  and  Ahaz,  though  held 
in  a  field,  was  comparatively  private.  If  it  had  been  a 
satisfactory  one,  the  prophet  might  have  awaited  the 
issue  in  silence.  Its  failure  compelled  him  to  make  the 
substance  of  his  communication  to  the  king  public.  His 
message  to  the  people  is  associated  with  another  sym- 
bolical child. 

{b)  The  Boy  MaJtcr-shalal-hasJt-baz  (viii.  1-8).  —  He 
first  repeats  his  prophecy  concerning 

a.     THE  OVERTHROW  OF  THE  ALLIES  (w.    I-4). I.    He 

claims  divine  authority  for  it :  Then,  after  the  meeting 
with  Ahaz,  and  probably  not  long  after  it,  said  Jehovah 
to  me  (comp.  vii.  3),  Take  thee  a  large  tablet,!  made  of 
metal,  and  suitable  for  exposure  in  some  public  place, 
and  write  thereon  in  plain  script  (lit.  with  a  mortal's 
stylus),  so  that  every  one,  even  the  simplest,  can  read  it 
(Hab.  ii.  2).      Comp.  Nagelsbach.     This  is  what  he  is 

*  The  rendering,  thou  shall  nol  come  thither  for  fear  of  briers  and  thorns 
(A1  V),  though  grammatically  defensible  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  3),  is  objectionable, 
because  too  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  context.  Comp.  Delitzsch.  The 
translation,  there  shall  not  come  thither  the  fear  of  briers  and  thorns,  as  a 
stimulus  to  husbandry  (I)illmann),  is  altogether  too  far-fetched. 

t  The  word  used  is  the  same  that  is  rendered  mirror  in  iii.  23. 


VIII.  i-3]  COMMENTS.  191 

instructed  to  write:  To,  i.e.,  relating  to,  —  Swift  booty, 
speedy  prey.*  The  words  are  a  condensed  prophecy, 
and  the  tablet  inscribed  with  them  is  a  witness  to  all 
who  read  them,  that  Isaiah  has  foretold  the  approaching 
destruction  —  of  what  or  whom  ?  The  tablet  does  not 
say;  but,  as  there  was  no  object  in  keeping  the  matter 
secret,  everybody  must  have  known  that  Syria  and  Israel 
were  intended.  If,  as  seems  probable,  Ahaz  had  not  yet 
despatched  his  messenger  to  Kalah,  it  may  not  have  been 
so  clear  how  these  kings  were  to  be  overthrown. 

2.  The  prophet  is  further  instructed  to  call  trusty 
witnesses^to  the  fact  that  he  has  made  the  prediction 
inscribed  on  the  tablet,  f  The  witnesses  are  named. 
The  first  is  Uriah  the  priest,  without  doubt  the  same 
who  afterward  superintended  the  changes  made  in  the 
temple  at  Ahaz'  dictation  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  10  ff.),  a  partisan 
of  the  king  or  a  time-server,  but,  by  virtue  of  his  position, 
a  man  of  influence,  and  therefore  a  valuable  witness. 
The  second  is  Zechariah,  son  of  Jeberekiah,  who  has 
been  identified  with  the  author  of  Zee.  ix.-xi.  (SDavid- 
son,  10  T,  III.  332),  or  the  Asaphite  of  2  Chr.  xxix.  13  ; 
but  there  is  little  to  be  said  for  either  conjecture. 

3.  Isaiah  also  records,  that,  about  this  time,  %  the 
prophetess,  so  called,  not  because  she  herself  possessed 

*  "VTfi  is  an  abbreviated  form  for  "iMBa  (Zep.  i.  14) ;  tOTl,  also,  is  a  parti- 
ciple used  adjectively. 

f  The  text  has  iTTWI,  and  I  (Jehovah)  will  summon.  The  Vulgate 
reads  and  I  (Isaiah)  summoned,  i.e.,  PPTUKJ,  and  some  modern  interpreters 
(Bredenkamp)  have  adopted  this  reading.  Better  than  either  is  ITTWP, 
the  one  here  followed,  which  also  has  the  support  of  the  Septuagint  and 
the  Peshita.     Comp.  Orelli.  % 

X  This  is  the  natural  interpretation  of  the  waw  consecutive  with  which 
the  verse  begins,  and  it  is  supported  by  the  context.     Comp.  Duhm. 


192  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  3,  4 

the  gift  of  prophecy  (Nagclsbach),  but  because  she 
was  the  wife  of  the  prophet,  conceived;  and  that,  in  due 
time,  she  bore  a  son.  Jehovah  then  commanded,  that, 
while  others  were  giving  to  their  children  such  names  as 
Immanu-el,  this  boy  should  be  named  Maher-shalal-hash- 
baz,  Swift-booty-speedy-prey,  and  thus  made  a  fourth 
witness  to  the  prediction  on  whose  fulfilment  his  father 
had  staked  his  reputation  as  a  prophet. 

4.  The  prediction  was,  at  the  same  time,  made  reason- 
ably clear  and  definite.  Its  final  form  was,  before  the 
lad  hath  learned  to  cry  Father,  and  Mother,  begun  to 
talk,  the  wealth  of  Damascus  and  .  .  .  Samaria  shall  be 
borne  off,  both  cities  will  have  been  captured,  by  the 
king  of  Assyria.  If,  now,  as  above  suggested,  this  child, 
like  Immanu-el,  was  born  about  nine  months  after  the 
interview  with  Ahaz,  Isaiah  would  seem,  meanwhile,  not 
only  to  have  persisted  in  expecting  the  overthrow  of  the 
allies,  but  to  have  seen  reason  for  expecting  it  sooner 
than  he  originally  (vii.  15)  predicted.  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  Before  the  birth  of  either  of  the  children 
Tiglath-pileser  had  made  his  expedition  of  734  B.C., 
seriously  crippling  Israel,  and  withdrawing  only  to  make 
preparations  for  a  more  vigorous  and  effective  prose- 
cution of  the  war.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that, 
when  the  prophet  was  called  upon  to  name  his  child,  he 
not  only  gave  him  the  name  suggested  to  him,  but, 
becoming  "  very  bold,"  declared  that  the  event  signified 
would  occur  within  a  year.  The  war  actually  lasted 
longer  than  he  anticipated,  the  Assyrian  king,  as  already 
stated,  making  two  campaigns  in  Syria  ;  but  the  dis- 
crepancy is  not  important.  For  Tiglath-pileser's  own 
account  of  his  operations,  see  Intr.  Stud.  II. 


VIII.  5,  6]  COMMENTS.  193 

In  chapter  vii.  Isaiah  warned  Ahaz  that  the  conquest 
of  Syria  and  Israel  would  but  prepare  the  way  for  the 
subjugation  of  Judah  by  the  Assyrians.  On  this  point, 
also,  he  remains  as  severe  as  in  his  original  utterances, 
for  his  second  prediction  concerning  the  fate  of  the 
allies  is  followed  by  a  description  of 

/3.     THE    INUNDATION    OF    JUDAH   (yv.   5~8). 5.     When 

Isaiah  had  fulfilled  the  instructions  given  him  with  refer- 
ence to  the  tablet,  Jehovah  spake  to  him  further,  pre- 
sumably on  the  same  occasion.     See  vii.  10. 

6.  The  message  begins  with  an  accusation  against 
this  people.  The  meaning  of  this  phrase  in  the  present 
connection  is  disputed.  Some  assert  that  it  denotes 
Israel  in  the  narrower  sense  (Nagelsbach);  others  that 
it  includes  Israel  and  Syria  (Henderson),  or  Israel  and 
Judah  (Delitzsch);  but  the  majority  of  modern  exegetes 
consider  it  a  designation  for  Judah.  This  last  is,  with- 
out doubt,  the  correct  interpretation ;  for,  since  it  is  the 
Jews  who  are  to  be  punished,  it  must  be  they  who  have 
offended.  There  are  apparently  two  counts.  In  the 
first  place,  they  despise  the  water  of  Shilloah,  i.e.,  the 
water  by  which  the  Pool  of  Shilloah  (Neh.  iii.  15: 
SJielaJi),  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tyropcean  valley, 
was  fed.  The  pool  was  probably  near  the  present  Pool 
of  Siloam,  just  below  the  end  of  the  tunnel  by  which  the 
water  of  the  Virgin's  Fountain  (Gihon)  is  conveyed  from 
the  Kidron,  into  the  Tyropcean  valley;  and  the  water 
that  floweth  softly,  the  small,  hidden,  and  noiseless 
stream  that  still  flows  through  the  tunnel*    This  stream, 

*  The  present  Pool  of  Siloam  is  fifty-three  feet  long,  eighteen  wide,  and 
nineteen  deep.  The  tunnel,  which  is  cut  through  the  solid  limestone  of 
the  hill  Ophel,  is  about  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and 


194  ISA  I  A II.  [VIII.  6 

so  modest,  yet  in  times  of  danger  so  precious  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem,  is  here  a  symbol  for  the  unseen 
and  mysterious,  but  real  and  efficient,  Presence  (Ps.  xlvi. 
5/4)  whom  the  prophet  is  seeking  to  persuade  his  people 
to  trust,  but  whom,  in  spite  of  his  efforts,  they  ignore. 
There  follows  what,  at  first  sight,  seems  a  separate 
charge,  that  they  despair  *  on  account  of  Resin  and  the 
son  of  Remaliah.f    It  is  really  a  more  specific  statement 

two  wide.  Its  height  varies  from  less  than  three  to  about  eighteen  feet, 
and  it  is  very  crooked.  See  Robinson,  BJ?P,  I.  337  ff. ;  Wilson  and 
Warren,  RJ,  239  ff.  In  1880,  there  was  found,  near  the  lower  end  of  the 
tunnel,  an  inscription,  since  destroyed,  of  which  the  following  is  a  transla- 
tion : 

.  .  .  the  piercing.  Now  this  was  the  manner  of  the  piercing.  While 
yet  .  .  . 

the  pick  one  toward  another;   and  while  there  were  yet  three  cubits  to 
.  .  .  the  voice  of  one  call- 
ing to  another.    For  there  was  ZDH  in  the  rock  on  the  right  .  .  .    And 
on  the  day  of  the 

piercing  the  excavators  smote  one  over  against  another,  pick  over 
against  pick.     Then  flowed 

the  water  from  the  spring  to  the  pool,  a  thousand  two  hundred  cubits; 
and  a  hun- 
dred cubits  was  the  height  of  the  rock  over  the  heads  of  the  excavators. 

For  the  original  see  Driver,  NBS,  xv.  f.  The  work  is  generally  attributed 
to  Hezekiah,  and  2Chr.  xxxii.  30  seems  to  favor  such  an  opinion;  but  the 
parallel  passage  in  2  Kgs.  (xx.  20)  probably  refers  to  the  reservoir  now 
called  the  Pool  of  Mamilla,  on  the  west  of  the  city,  and  the  aqueduct  by 
which  the  water  is  conveyed  from  it  to  the  so-called  Pool  of  Hezekiah  in 
the  city.     See  Stade,  GFI,  I.  593  f. 

*  The  words  despise  and  despair  reproduce  a  paronomasia  in  the  original. 

f  The  text  has  tt'l'C'fil,  which  can  only  be  rendered  rejoice  (Orelli). 
Thus  rendered,  however,  it  does  not  harmonize  with  the  context.  Hence 
it  has  been  suggested  that  OCfi  is  but  another  form  of  the  infinitive 
construct  of  CCE  (x.  18),  dissolve,  despond  (Hitzig).  The  suggestion  is  a 
valuable  one,  but  it  does  not  entirely  meet  the  difficulties  in  the  case.  The 
fact  is  that  the  construction  DiDQl  .  .  .  CX!3  "O  JIT  is  objectionable.     It 


VIII.  6-8]  COMMENTS.  195 

of  the  one  already  made.  In  other  words,  Isaiah  ac- 
cuses his  people  of  despising  Jehovah,  and  showing  it, 
first  by  being  terrified  at  the  approach  of  Resin  and 
Pekah  (vii.  2),  and  finally  by  turning  to  Tiglath-pileser 
instead  of  him  for  assistance. 

7.  The  appeal  to  the  Assyrian  king  explains  the  pun- 
ishment threatened.  Because  they  have  put  their  trust 
in  him  and  his  armies,  the  din  of  whose  movements  is 
"like  the  noise  of  mighty  waters"  (xvii.  12),  therefore 
will  Jehovah  bring  up  against  them,  from  Assyria,  this 
noisy,  turbulent  River,  this  human  Euphrates.*  Like  the 
real  Euphrates,  when  the  snow  on  the  mountains  among 
which  it  rises  melts  in  the  summer,  at  his  command  this 
power  shall  wholly  outgrow  its  channels,  become  too 
great  to  be  confined  within  its  present  limits ;  and  over- 
flow all  its  banks,  undertake  unprecedented  conquests. 

8.  It  will  not  stop  with  the  overflow  of  Syria  and 
Israel ;  it  shall  also  invade  Judah,  whose  people  now 
think  themselves  safe  from  its  ravages,  and  overwhelm 
it,f  devastating  it  from  end  to  end,  to  the  neck,  until  it 

is  probable  that  the  original  text  was  DIED!  .  .  .  DX£  JIT;  or  CXft  JIT 
iDCDI  .  .  .  (Eze.  xxv.  6) ;  or,  since  an  infinitive  of  the  latter  form  is  rare 
(Bot.  §  1 155,  6),  and  a  succession  of  infinitives  after  JIT  equally  infre- 
quent, while  an  infinitive  followed  by  a  finite  verb  is  a  common  construc- 
tion, 1CEE1  .  .  .  Di>E  JIT.  For  the  mode,  see  xxxvii.  29;  for  the  tense, 
Am.  v.  ii;  and  for  the  number,  Eze.  xxv.  12.  See  also  Ges.  §  112,  3,  5. 
The  retention  of  flN  after  'CCft  seems  justified  by  Job  xxxi.  34,  but  "£& 
would  be  the  usual  construction.     Comp.  Dillmann. 

*  The  figure  is  explained  as  meaning,  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  all  his 
glory ;  but  the  explanation,  like  others  of  the  same  kind  already  noticed, 
is  superfluous,  and  therefore  doubtless  a  gloss  from  the  hand  of  an  anxious 
reader  or  copyist. 

t  The  omission  of  the  connective  before  ^ptt',  flood,  is  best  explained  by 
supposing  the  verb  a  gloss.    Comp.  Dri.  §§  147,  132. 


196  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  8 

is  all  but  destroyed,  yea,  says  the  prophet,  and  the 
irony  of  the  passage  culminates  in  these  final  words,  the 
stretch  of  its  flanks,  the  extent  of  the  advancing  flood, 
shall  fill  the  breadth,  from  border  to  border,  of  thy  land, 
0  Immanu-el,  the  land  of  whose  temporary  deliverance 
Immanu-el  was  the  sign.  Immanu-el,  then,  is  here  a 
representative  of  the  generation,  born  just  as  Judah 
emerged  from  the  Syrian  crisis,  the  omens  at  whose 
birth  are  to  be  reversed  before  they  have  finished  the 
first  stage  of  their  existence.* 

The  faith  of  Ahaz,  and  most  of  his  people,  was  a  faith 
in  man  and  his  ability.     The  prophet  has  shown  what 

*  The  interpretation  given  to  these  last  words  is  required  by  vii.  14  f. 
It  also  harmonizes  with  the  context.  Those  who  adopt  a  different  idea  of 
Immanu-el  have  difficulty  in  explaining  why  he  should  appear  in  this 
prophecy.  The  difficulty  thus  experienced  has  given  rise  to  attempts  to 
avoid  it.  The  latest  suggestion  is,  that  vX  13J2L'',  Immanu-el,  be  dropped 
as  a  gloss  (Duhm),  or  attached  to  the  following  verse  (Cheyne);  but 
neither  of  these  ways  of  disposing  of  the  word  is  satisfactory,  for  the  follow- 
ing reasons:  Verses  9  and  10  are  a  fragment,  foreign  to  their  present 
context.  This  is  generally  admitted.  Such  being  the  case,  they  must  have 
been  removed  from  some  other  place  to  the  one  that  they  now  occupy. 
Moreover,  there  must  have  been  some  reason  why  they  were  placed  where 
they  are,  and  not  in  some  other  connection.  If,  now,  the  present  text  be 
left  undisturbed,  one  can  see  a  reason  for  attaching  these  verses  to  w.  5-8 
that  ought  to  have  weight,  especially  with  those  who  demand  a  change :  viz. 
that  both  passages  end  with  7fc%  1IJ31?,  furnishing  a  striking  example  of  the 
application  of  the  principle  of  catchwords,  which  Cornill  (ZA  IV,  1884, 
S3  ff.)  claims  to  have  traced  through  the  entire  Isaianic  collection.  See 
Cheyne,  IB  I,  xxv.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  b$  "321?  of  v.  8  be  omitted, 
or,  as  well  as  that  of  v.  10,  attached  to  the  inserted  passage,  there  remains 
no  apparent  reason  for  its  insertion.  These  considerations,  added  to  the 
fact  that  neither  of  the  proposed  changes  would  improve  the  sense  of  either 
passage,  make  it  seem  best  to  retain  the  present  text  in  its  present  arrange- 
ment. 


VIII.  9,  10]  COMMENTS.  197 

comes  of  it ;  that  at  first  it  seems  well-founded,  but  that 
in  the  end  it  proves  a  delusion.  The  rest  of  this  chap- 
ter and  a  part  of  the  next  deal  with  a  faith  of  another 
kind, 

(2)  Faith  in  God  (viii.  9-ix.  6/7).  —  The  transition  is 
made  by  the  introduction  of  a  brief  challenge  {yv.  9f.), 
which,  as  has  already  been  explained,  originally  be- 
longed in  a  different  connection,  but  which  has  enough 
in  common  with  the  verses  that  immediately  follow  to 
warrant  one  in  including  it  under  the  same  heading, 

(a)  The  Only  Danger  (viii.  9—  1 5 ).  — 9.  It  begins  with 
a  solemn  summons,  Attend,*  0  peoples !  The  peoples 
addressed  are  also  called  the  ends  of  the  earth.  They 
cannot,  therefore,  well  be  the  forces  of  Resin  and  Pekah, 
but,  as  the  tone  and  the  phraseology  indicate,  must  be 
the  same  that  are  described  in  xvii.  12,  the  nations 
represented  in  the  Assyrian  army.  Isaiah,  with  the 
recklessness  that  characterized  his  attitude  toward  Sen- 
nacherib (xxxvii.  22  ff.),  defies  him  and  his  host.  Gird 
yourselves  !  he  cries;  gird  yourselves,  for  war,  but  to  be 
confounded  by  a  startling  and  terrible  reverse. 

10.  Their  armies  will  be  useless.  Their  scheme,  there- 
fore, the  scheme  to  destroy  the  last  remnant  of  the 
chosen  people  (xxxvi.  16  f.),  and  thus  defeat  the  purpose 
of  Jehovah  in  their  creation,  will  be  planned  only  to  be 
shattered ;  because,  says  the  prophet,  God  is  with  us. 
These  are  the  same  words  in  which  the  end  of  the 

*  The  text  has  11?"\  rage ;  but  the  Septuagint  have  the  equivalent  of  'VI, 
know,  and  this,  or  11? 52*" ,  hear,  is  the  reading  required  by  the  parallel  line, 
give  ear,  etc.;  which,  moreover,  should  be  brought  into  immediate  con- 
nection with  this  one  by  the  omission  of  the  intervening  phrase,  but  to  be 
confounded.     See  i.  2,  10;  xxviii.  23. 


19S  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  10-13 

Syrian  crisis  was  celebrated,  but  they  are  not  used  here 
in  the  same  sense  as  in  vii.  14.  There  they  were  a  mere 
outburst  of  popular  enthusiasm  over  the  temporary  suc- 
cess of  a  short-sighted  and  cowardly  policy ;  here  they 
are  the  confession,  in  the  midst  of  a  greater  crisis,  of 
the  sublimest  confidence  in  God,  and  in  the  ultimate 
deliverance  of  those  who  wait  for  him.  There  they 
were  the  idle  boast  of  the  doomed  masses ;  here  they 
are  the  inspiring  watchword  of  the  Israel  of  the  future.* 

11.  The  remaining  verses  of  the  paragraph  have  a 
similar  tone,  but  they  are  much  earlier,  belonging  to 
the  date  of  the  Syrian,  rather  than  the  Assyrian,  inva- 
sion. In  the  midst  of  the  commotion  caused  by  the 
attempt  of  Resin  and  Pekah  upon  Jerusalem,  Isaiah 
received  another  revelation.  This  came  to  him  with 
mighty  power,  an  overwhelming  influence  of  the  Spirit 
(Eze.  i.  3  ;  iii.  14;  etc.),  to  warn  f  him  and  his  followers 
not  to  go  in  the  way  of  his  erring  countrymen :  this 
people,  he  calls  them,  as  Jehovah  did  in  v.  5. 

12.  The  people  were  saying,  with  bated  breath,  of  the 
design  of  Resin  and  Pekah,  A  plot !  meaning  thereby 
an  irresistible  combination  against  Judah.  His  instruc- 
tions were,  fear  not  what  they  fear,  men  and  their  in- 
trigues, however  cunning  and  powerful  (vii.  4ff.); 

13.  they  can  be  resisted  ;  but  Of  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  — 
the  name  has  a  peculiar  fitness  in  this  connection,  — 
shall  ye  beware,!  because  he  is  irresistible,  and  opposi- 

*  Comp.  Porter,  JBI,  1895,  3^>  wno  refers  vv.  9f.  to  the  post-Exilic 
period. 

t  The  form  "SIC  is  an  imperfect  of  the  first  (Kal)  stem.  See  Hos.  x. 
10.     On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  107,  4,  a  (3). 

\  The  text  has  lE^lpn,  shall  ye  sanctify;  but  this  reading  is  so  tame 
and  unnatural  that  it  will  have  to  be  abandoned.     The  substitution  of  CHp, 


VIII.  13-15]  COMMENTS.  199 

tion  to  him  can  only  result  in  the  destruction  of  his 
adversary ;  he,  and  he  alone,  shall  be  the  object  of  your 
fear. 

14.  The  command  to  fear  Jehovah  alone  is  equivalent 
to  an  exhortation  to  trust  him,  and  implies  a  promise 
that  he  will  protect  those  who  take  this  attitude  toward 
him.  Isaiah  leaves  all  this  to  be  supplied,  and  proceeds 
with  a  statement  of  the  result  of  ignoring  him.*  To 
those  who  do  this  he  will  be  a  stone  to  trip  on,  a  cause 
of  disaster,  for  both  houses  of  Israel,  because  both  alike 
ignore  him :  the  one  by  attempting  to  overthrow  the 
Davidic  kingdom,  and  the  other  by  seeking  foreign  as- 
sistance in  maintaining  it.  The  warning,  however,  is 
intended  especially  for  Judah ;  hence  separate  mention 
is  made  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. f 

15.  The  double  figure  of  the  stone  and  the  snare 
denotes  the  various  means  by  which  Jehovah  will  inter- 
vene, to  their  disadvantage,  in  the  affairs  of  his  people. 

holy,  for  "ltl"p,  plot,  in  the  preceding  verse  (Bredenkamp)  does  not  help 
matters.  The  T"p  of  ».  12  must  be  retained,  and  If  Ipfi  changed  to 
WtPpn,  shall  ye  make  a  conspirator,  i.e.,  treat  as  such  ;  in  other  words,  as 
above,  betvare  of  (Duhm).  True,  the  causative  stem  of  "Itl'p  is  not  else- 
where found;  but  this,  in  view  of  the  originality  of  Isaiah,  is  not  a  serious 
objection.  The  error  which  produced  the  present  text  is  explained  by  the 
strangeness  of  the  original  word,  and  its  likeness  to  the  familiar  one  sub- 
stituted for  it. 

*  In  the  text  the  implied  antithesis  is  made  explicit  by  the  insertion  of 
WlpH?,  a  sanctuary.  It  is  better,  therefore,  to  regard  this  addition  to  the 
text  as  editorial,  rather  than  to  explain  it  (Duhm)  as  a  copyist's  error 
occasioned  by  the  fc'plO?,  a  springe,  toward  the  end  of  the  verse.  On 
the  accentuation  of  the  verse,  see  Wickes,  HPA,  134. 

t  This  interpretation  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  the  text  is  correct. 
Perhaps,  however,  the  phrase  for  both  houses  of  Israel  should  be  omitted. 
The  verse  would  then  consist  of  two  lines  of  nearly  equal  length,  both 
referring  to  Judah,  as  v.  13  would  lead  one  to  expect. 


200  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  15,  16 

The  result  will  be,  that  many  shall  thereby,  by  these 
means,*  stumble,  meet  misfortune,  or,  in  the  language 
of  the  conjoined  figures,  fall,  over  the  stone,  and  be 
broken,  and  be  snared,  like  a  bird,  and  taken.  Comp. 
xxviii.  16;   Rom.  ix.  33;   1  Pet.  ii.  8. 

Isaiah  believed  that  Jehovah  would  finally  reveal  him- 
self as  the  deliverer  of  those  who  feared  him.  This  is 
clear  from  the  care  he  takes,  in  speaking  of  the  future 
of  his  people,  not  to  predict  their  utter  destruction.  In 
v.  8  the  flood  to  which  the  Assyrian  invasion  is  likened 
reaches  only  to  the  neck;  and  in  v.  15  many,  but  not 
all,  are  to  stumble  and  perish.  But  the  prophet  saw, 
that  even  those  who  were  finally  delivered  would  have 
to  endure  great  suffering,  before  the  divine  purpose 
could  be  fulfilled.  The  next  paragraph  is  intended  to 
prepare  his  followers  for 

(6)  The  Coming  Darkness  (viii.  16-23). —  16.  He  pro- 
poses to  commit  to  them  his  testimony  concerning  the 
things  that  are  to  come.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  roll, 
which  he  will  sealf  against  the  time  to  which  it  refers. 
How  much  the  roll  contained,  there  seems  to  be  no 
means  of  learning;  but  one  may  assume,  that  the  proph- 
ecies in  which  Immanu-el  and  Maher-shalal-hash-baz 
figure  were  among  its  contents.  Those  to  whom  it  is 
committed   he    calls   his    disciples,   such    as   had   been 

*  This  is  the  natural  interpretation.  It  does  not  require  the  change  of 
32  to  12  (Cheyne).  The  rendering  among  (hem,  i.e.,  Israel,  or  Judah 
(Delitzsch),  though  possible,  is  less  satisfactory.  If  such  had  been  the 
prophet's  meaning,  he  would  naturally  have  said  22  2*2~1. 

f  For  21rin,  the  imperative,  read  2*nn,  the  infinitive  absolute.  For  the 
form  "112k  see  Ges.  §67,  R.  2;  on  the  construction,  v.  5;  1  Kgs.  xxii.  30; 
Ges.  §  113,  4,  b,  6;  Dav.  §8S,  b. 


VIII.  i6-xg]  COMMENTS.  201 

taught  by  him  respecting  the  purpose  of  Jehovah,  and 
led  to  acquiesce  in  it.     Comp.  Orelli. 

17.  This  done,  he  will  wait  for  Jehovah,  first  to  vindi- 
cate him  and  them,  and  then  to  deliver  the  remnant  of 
his  people ;  *  although,  for  the  present,  he  hideth  his 
face,  withdraws  his  favor,  from  the  house  of  Jacob,  the 
Hebrew  people. 

iS.  He  intends  to  remain  silent,  but  he  does  not 
expect  to  be  without  influence,  since  he  and  his  children 
are  all  signs  and  tokens  of  great  significance  in  Israel. 
Maher-shalal-hash-baz  threatened  destruction  to  those 
who  rejected  Jehovah  ;  while  Shear-yashub  promised 
deliverance  to  such  as  made  him  their  refuge ;  and  the 
name  of  Isaiah  himself  {Jehovah  helped)  furnished  an 
inspiring  watchword  for  the  loyal  remnant.  Comp. 
Bredenkamp ;  see  also  Heb.  ii.  13.  These  witnesses 
are  from  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  mighty,  who  dwelleth  in 
Mount  Zion  (Am.  i.  2);  within  easy  reach  of  those  who 
desire  his  protection. 

19.  The  prophet  now  explains  the  use  to  be  made  of 
the  roll  that  has  been,  or  is  to  be,  prepared.  It  is  to 
serve  as  a  source  of  guidance  in  the  approaching  crisis. 
Something  of  the  kind  will  be  needed.  People  will  be 
running  hither  and  thither  trying  to  learn  the  meaning 
of  their  misfortunes.  The  multitude  will  betake  them- 
selves to  false  prophets.  Isaiah  warns  his  disciples  not 
to  follow  them  to  the  necromancers,  those  who,  like  the 
witch  of  Endor(i  Sam.  xxviii.  7  ff. ),  professed  to  have 
power  over  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  to  make  them  reveal 
things  beyond  the  knowledge  of  the   living ;   and  the 

*  That  the  subject  is  the  same  in  this  as  in  the  preceding  verse  appears 
from  the  fact  that  the  pronoun  T2K,  I,  is  not  expressed. 


202  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  19,  20 

soothsayers,  those  who,  like  the  maid  mentioned  in  Acts 
xvi.  16,  were  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  a  divining 
spirit  (Riehm,  NBA,  art.  Wahrsager) ;  that  chirp  and 
mutter,  make  the  piping,  or  the  hollow  tones  attributed 
to  ghosts  and  employed  by  ventriloquists.  Two  reasons 
are  given.  It  is  disloyal  to  Jehovah:  should  not  a  people 
inquire  of  their  God  ?  Moreover,  it  is  ridiculous.  How 
can  the  living,  still  permitted  the  untrammelled  use  of 
their  faculties,  expect  to  learn  anything  that  they  do 
not  know  from  the  dead,  confined,  as  these  are,  in  the 
gloomy  caverns  of  Sheol  ?     See  Job  xiv.  21. 

20.  Those  who  really  desire  the  truth  will  turn  To  the 
teaching,  the  inspired  utterances  of  the  prophet,  in  the 
written  testimony  deposited  with  his  disciples.  On  so 
doing  they  will  find  that  the  teaching  and  the  testimony 
tell  of,  describe,  the  like  of  this  state,  a  situation  corre- 
sponding to  the  one  then  existing;  one  to  which  there  is 
no  dawn,  in  which  those  who  have  deserted  Jehovah  find 
no  comfort  or  encouragement.  The  effect  of  this  dis- 
covery on  those  who  make  it  will  be  to  give  them  in- 
creased faith  in  their  master,  and  help  them  to  wait  for 
the  better  things  that  Jehovah  has  commissioned  him  to 
promise  them.* 

*  The  passage  has  been  given  a  great  variety  of  renderings.  The  most 
interesting  are  the  following  : 

If  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  there  shall  be  no  dawn  to 
them  (Henderson). 

Surely  they  will  so  say,  to  whom  there  is  no  dawn  (Dillmann). 

Or  will  they  not  so  speak  who  are  without  dawn  (Delitzsch)  ? 

Will  they  not  yet  so  speak?  Because  no  morning  dawns  for  him,  one 
goeth,  etc.  (Bredenkamp). 

They  are  all  unsatisfactory.  The  fundamental  error  in  them  is,  that  in 
every  case  the  subject  of  1~l!2K*,  say,  tell  of,  is  supposed  to  be  those  from 
whom  Jehovah  has  withdrawn  his  favor.     Such  an  interpretation  is  for- 


VI 1 1 .  2 1 ,  2  2  ]  COMMENTS.  203 

21.  The  prophet  now  proceeds  to  describe  the  effect 
on  those  who  have  no  faith  in  Jehovah  of  the  state  of 
things  to  which  he  has  referred,  they  shall  pass  through 
the  land,  seeking  relief  (Am.  viii.  1 1  f.),  but  finding  none, 
and  therefore  downcast,  discouraged,  as  well  as  hungry ; 
and  when  they  realize  their  condition,  instead  of  being 
subdued  by  their  sufferings,  they  will  become  enraged, 
and  curse  their  king  and  their  God ;  abandon  everything 
like  reverence  ( i  Kgs.  xxi.  io).     Comp.  Delitzsch.* 

There  will  be  no  help  for  them ;  for,  whether  they 
turn  upward,  with  the  inconsistency  of  desperation 
hoping  against  hope  for  divine  aid,  22.  or  look  earth- 
ward, for  human  assistance,  —  whichever  way  they  turn, 
they  will  find  trouble  and  darkness,  yea,  a  gloom  with- 
out brightness,  utter  distress.     See  Am.  v.  20.  f 

bidden  by  the  entire  context.  In  the  first  place,  it  detaches  the  preceding 
exhortation  from  that  of  v.  19,  thus  destroying  a  perfect  antithesis  and 
weakening  the  force  of  the  passage;  and,  secondly,  it  attaches  to  the  sub- 
ject as  a  modifier  a  relative  clause,  TW  "b  j"K  ~CX,  to  which  there  is  no 
duwn,  which  was  evidently  not  intended  to  serve  any  such  purpose.  Vio- 
lence of  this  sort  is  avoided  by  making  the  subject  the  teaching  and  the 
testimony.  The  exhortation  to  consult  them  then  remains  in  the  mouth 
of  Isaiah,  where  it  belongs,  and  the  relative  clause  becomes  a  (needed) 
description  of  the  character  of  their  contents.  On  *b  DK,  in  the  sense  of 
surely,  see  v.  9;   Ges.  §  149,  R.  c. 

*  The  last  two  (Hebrew)  words  of  this  verse  belong  to  the  next. 

f  The  text  reads,  literally,  and  to,  trouble  and  darkness,  the  darkness  of 
distress,  and  gloom  dispersed.  This  makes  too  long  a  line.  The  attempt 
has  been  made  to  get  rid  of  the  excess  by  rendering  the  last  two  (He- 
brew) words,  but  the  darkness  shall  be  dispersed  (Dillmann),  and  con- 
necting them  with  what  follows;  but,  unfortunately,  there  is  as  little  room 
for  them  in  the  next  line  as  in  this  one.  A  better  remedy  is  to  omit 
rip "S  CyiUB,  originally  probably  AplX  ^JJIfc,  the  darkness  of  oppression,  as  a 
gloss  explanatory  of  the  preceding  word,  darkness.  This  done,  the  verse 
will  be  of  the  proper  length;  but,  if  no  further  change  be  made,  the  last 
two  words  will  still  prove  troublesome.     The  favorite  rendering  for  them 


204  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  23 

23  (ix.  1).  It  is  more  than  probable  that  this  prophecy 
closed  with  v.  22,  and  that  the  remaining  verse  is  a  con- 
siderably later  addition.*  It  consists  of  two  parts.  The 
first  is  plainly  an  explanation  of  the  gloss,  the  darkness 
of  oppression,  by  the  same  hand,  in  the  preceding  verse. 
For,  it  says,  — is  not  the  land  (lit.  she)  darkened  that  is 
oppressed?  f  The  rest  of  the  verse  describes  how  the 
foregoing  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  No  one  could  doubt 
that  it  had  reference  to  the  invasion  of  Palestine  by  the 
Assyrians.  It  was  believed  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  That  result,  how- 
ever, was  not  effected  at  once  or  by  a  single  expedition. 
Indeed,  it  was  twelve  years  after  the  date  of  Tiglath- 
pileser's  brilliant  raid,  when  the  country  was  finally 
conquered  ;  and  then  it  yielded  only  after  a  long  contest. 
The  editor,  believing  that  Isaiah  foresaw  what  actually 

is  driven  into  glooni,  or  its  equivalent,  which  Jer.  xxiii.  12  is  thought  to 
favor;  but  the  unnaturalness,  to  say  the  least,  of  the  expression  makes 
more  probable  that  V\1lf2  is  a  copyist's  error,  the  result  of  confusing  this 
passage  with  the  one  in  Jeremiah.  Taking  this  for  granted,  one  will  have 
little  difficulty  in  restoring  the  text.  The  rendering  of  the  Septuagint,  so 
as  not  to  see,  suggests  the  construction  used,  while  Am.  v.  20  supplies  the 
word  that  must  have  been  employed.  Combining  the  two,  one  arrives  at 
the  conclusion  that  the  original  of  m3&  was  rUJO,  and  that  the  whole 
phrase  read,  as  above,  yea,  gloom  without  brightness.  See  Mic.  iii.  6;  Job 
xxi.  9;   Ges.  §  119,  3,  d,  1. 

*  In  the  English,  as  in  the  other  versions,  this  verse  is  the  first  of  the 
ninth  chapter;  but,  in  the  original,  —  and  this  fact  should  be  taken  into 
account  in  its  interpretation,  — it  is  the  last  of  the  eighth. 

f  So  Duhm;  similarly  Luzzatto.  On  the  omission  of  the  interrogative 
particle,  see  2  Kgs.  v.  26;  Ges.  §  150,  1.  The  traditional  interpretation, 
which  makes  the  words  a  promise  that  the  land  now  oppressed  shall  not 
always  be  in  darkness  (Alexander),  is  violent  and  arbitrary.  That  of 
Barth,  Weariness  is  unknown  to  the  (enemy*)  that  is  arrayed  against  it,  is 
far-fetched  and  unnatural. 


VIII.  23]  COMMENTS.  205 

occurred,  with  perfect  frankness  adds  this  note :  The 
first  time,  in  734  B.C.,  he,  Jehovah,  through  Tiglath- 
pileser,  dealt  gently,  wrought  but  slight  damage, —  in 
the  land  *  of  Zebulon,  a  small  district  lying  north  of  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  near  the  southeastern  corner  of 
which  Nazareth  is  situated,  and  the  land  of  Naphtali,  a 
strip  of  country,  widest  at  the  northern  end,  extending 
along  the  Jordan,  and  the  lakes  through  which  it  flows, 
from  Dan  to  Mt.  Tabor.  See  2  Kgs.  xv.  29;  Intr. 
Stud.  II. t  The  note  continues:  but  the  last  time, 
finally,  in  724-722  B.C.,  through  Shalmaneser  and  Sar- 
gon,  he  dealt  severely,!  wrought  serious  havoc,  in  the 
region  (lit.  way)  of  the  Sea.  This  phrase,  taken  by 
itself,  might  mean  the  country  along  the  Mediterranean, 
or  that  on  either  side  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  is  fol- 
lowed by  another,  beyond  Jordan,  which,  at  first  sight,  is 
very  puzzling ;  for,  whether  it  is  taken  by  itself,  as  is 
oftenest  done  (Skinner),  or,  as  usage  requires  (Deu.  iv. 

*  On  the  construction  of  USHK,  see  Ges.  §§90,  2,  b;    118,  2,  b. 

f  The  Gilead  of  2  Kgs.  xv.  29  is  not  the  region  of  that  name  east  of 
the  Jordan.  This  is  clear  enough  from  the  fact  that  all  the  places  men- 
tioned are  finally  comprehended  in  the  general  description,  all  the  land 
of  Naphtali;  it  is  rendered  certain  by  the  additional  fact  that,  in  the 
Assyrian  inscription  in  which  Tiglath-pileser  recounts  his  expedition,  the 
fragment  of  the  name  that  has  been  preserved  is  preceded  by  the  determi- 
native for  a  city. 

%  The  rendering,  he  hath  made,  in  the  sense  of  he  xvill  make,  it  glorious, 
in  which  the  majority  of  commentators  concur,  is  indefensible.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  inconsistent.  The  verb  TMfi  is  in  the  same  tense  as  ?pn, 
lit.  made  light,  and  there  is  absolutely  no  ground  for  supposing,  that,  if, 
as  all  agree,  the  latter  describes  a  past  act,  the  former  describes  one  yet 
future.  Secondly,  the  causative  stem  of  "03,  be  heavy,  does  not  mean 
honor,  but  make  heavy,  or  something  akin  to  this  signification.  In  this 
passage,  therefore,  as  in  1  Kgs.  xii.  10,  the  two  verbs  must  be  understood 
as  denoting  different  degrees  of  maltreatment. 


206  ISAIAH.  [VIII.  23 

49 ;  Jos.  xiii.  27),  attached  to  the  phrase  preceding,  a 
part,  at  least,  of  the  territory  described  is  apparently 
located  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  while  the  structure  of 
the  passage  leads  one  to  expect  to  find  the  country 
severely  punished  where  that  lightly  chastened  was 
situated.  The  difficulty  disappears  when  one  remem- 
bers, that,  as  has  already  been  urged  on  other  grounds, 
these  words  are  not  the  words  of  Isaiah,  but  of  an 
editor  ;  and  that,  as  one  also  has  good  reason  for  holding, 
this  editor,  like  the  one  whose  hand  appears  in  2  Kgs. 
v.  4  (iv.  24),  did  his  work  in  Babylonia.  From  that 
standpoint,  the  former  territory  of  Zebulon  and  Naph- 
tali  would  naturally  be  described  as  in  the  region  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  beyond  the  Jordan.*  Moreover,  on 
the  supposition  that  there  has,  as  yet,  been  no  reference 
to  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan,  the  final  phrase 
becomes  intelligible,  the  District  of  the  nations,  Galilee, 
so  called  because  it  never  became  so  thoroughly  Hebrew 
as  the  rest  of  the  country,  is  simply  another  name  for 
the  region  in  question,  northern  Palestine,  f     There  are 

*  It  is  possible  that  D',1  *pT  ought  to  be  translated  literally,  in  the 
direction  of  the  sea,  i.e.,  westward,  like  D"1  "JT1  in  i  Kgs.  xviii.  43.  The 
whole  expression  would  then  become  equivalent  to  HS*  fTTH  "OSJ3,  beyond 
the  Jordan,  westward.  See  Jos.  v.  I;  GASmith,  HGHL,  428;*.  This 
change,  however,  would  not  affect  the  interpretation  above  adopted. 

t  The  name  ^'^i,  Galil,  the  original  of  Galilee,  occurs  five  times  in  the 
Old  Testament  outside  of  the  present  connection.  In  three  cases  (Jos. 
xx.  7,  xxi.  32;  I  Chr.  vi.  61/76)  it  designates  the  undefined  region  in  which 
Kedesh  was  located.  In  a  fourth  (2  Kgs.  xv.  29)  it  seems  to  be  applied 
to  a  part  only  of  Naphtali;  but,  since,  in  this  passage,  Kedesh  appears 
without  any  indication  of  its  identity,  and  in  all  other  cases  but  one  (Jos. 
xii.  22)  in  which  it  occurs,  its  location  is  described,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  here,  also,  the  original  text  read,  not  Kedesh,  and  Hazor,  and  Gilead, 
and  Galilee,  but  Kedesh  in  Galilee,  and  Hazor,  and  Gilead.     The  remain- 


VIII.  23-IX.  1/2]  COMMENTS.  207 

no  means  of  learning  how  severely  this  region  suffered 
during  the  siege  of  Samaria  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  9  ff.  ;  Intr. 
Stud.  II.),  but  one  can  imagine  what  must  have  been  its 
condition  after  the  Assyrian  armies  had  passed  back 
and  forth  over  it  for  three  years. 

The  picture  of  the  immediate  future  of  Israel  that 
Isaiah  drew  for  his  disciples,  is  a  dark  one,  but  it  con- 
tains hints  of  something  brighter.  The  statement,  e.g., 
that  he  and  his  sons  are  signs  and  tokens  to  his  people, 
reminds  one  that  his  oldest  son  bore  the  name  Shear- 
yashub ;  and  his  declaration  that  he  will  wait  for  Jehovah 
suggests  that  he  must  have  had  reason  for  his  confi- 
dence. Did  he  share  his  expectations  with  his  disciples? 
They  must,  at  times,  even  before  Judah  was  attacked 
by  the  Assyrians,  have  sorely  needed  such  encourage- 
ment. It  is  inconceivable  that  he  should  not,  either 
before  or  during  the  darkness  that  he  had  predicted, 
have  given  them  some  idea  what  was  in  store  for  them, 
and,  if  he  did,  the  following  prophecy  concerning 

(c)   A  Great  Light  (ix.  1/2-6/7)  may  well  be  one  of 
those  to  which  he  then  gave  utterance.     At  any  rate, 
nothing  could  have  been  better  calculated  to  cheer  the  , 
hearts  of  the  faithful  during  that  trying  period. 

ix.  1/2.  It  begins  with  an  allusion  to  the  situation  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  paragraph.  The  people  that 
walk  in  darkness  are  the  house  of  Jacob,  from  whom, 
in  viii.  17,  the  prophet  pictures  Jehovah  as  hiding  his 

ing  passage  (1  Kgs.  ix.  11)  does  not  define  the  limits  of  this  region,  but 
indicates  that  it  must  have  been  of  considerable  extent,  since  the  twenty 
cities  that  Solomon  gave  to  Hiram  were  only  a  part  of  it.  In  New  Testa- 
ment times  it  included  the  territory,  not  only  of  Zebulon  and  Naphtali,  but 
of  Asher  and  Issachar.     See  Josephus,  JIV,  iii.  3,  1. 


20S  ISAIAH.  [IX.  1/2,  2/3 

face ;  not,  however,  the  entire  people,  but  the  puri- 
fied remnant  destined  to  be  the  nation  of  the  future. 
They  shall  see  a  great  light,  a  glorious  period  of 
favor  with  Jehovah  and  consequent  prosperity.*  on 
them  that  dwell  f  in  a  hitherto  gloomy  land  (viii.  22) 
it  shall  burst,  as  the  sun  bursts  upon  the  earth  in  the 
morning. 

2/3.  In  thus  restoring  his  people  to  favor  Jehovah 
will  cause  abundant  exultation,  %  produce  a  state  of  things 
in  which  there  will  be  great  exultation.  The  prophet 
resorts  to  comparison  to  show  how  great  the  joy  and 
exultation  are  to  be.  men  shall  rejoice  continually,  as 
they  rejoice  in  harvest,  when,  with  feasting  and  dancing, 
they  celebrate  the  ingathering  of  the  produce  of  their 
toil  (Ex.  xxiii.  16;  Jud.  ix.  27;  xxi.  21).  The  phrase 
before  thee,  with  which  the  prophet  modifies  his  state- 
ment, means  that,  in  the  good  time  coming,  men  will 
recognize  in  Jehovah  the  source  of  the  blessings  in 
which  they  rejoice. §     A  second  simile  is  added.     The 

*  The  original  has  the  perfect,  have  seen  ;  and  this,  as  being  more  vivid, 
would  be  the  preferable  rendering,  if  it  were  not  ambiguous.  Since,  how- 
ever, the  use  of  the  perfect  in  English  is  liable  to  be  understood  as  refer- 
ring to  a  past  event,  and  it  is  clear  from  internal  evidence  {v.  4),  but 
especially  from  xi.  I  f.,  that  the  whole  passage  has  to  do  with  things  to 
come,  it  seems  best  to  employ  throughout  the  future  tense. 

t  On  the  construction  of  "311",  see  Ges.  §  130,  1. 

%  The  text  has  87  "JH  T\"Z "H,  thou  wilt  make  great  the  nation,  not. 
For  the  last  word  the  Masoretes  read  t7,  to  it.  The  change,  although  it 
improves  the  sense,  introduces  a  superfluous  element  into  the  construction. 
It  is  better,  with  Krochmal,  for  tth  '"H,  to  read  iTf*3H,  rejoicing;  exulta- 
tion, and  thus  produce  a  perfect  correspondence  between  the  two  halves 
of  the  verse. 

$  The  word  ""£7  might  mean,  at  the  sanctuary;  but,  if  it  be  so  inter- 
preted in  this  passage,  it  must  either  be  treated  as  a  gloss  (Duhm),  or 
transposed  with  the  word  following. 


IX.  2/3-5/6]  COMMENTS.  209 

joy  will  be  like  that  when  men  divide  booty,  are  victori- 
ous in  war  (i  Sam.  xviii.  6f. ;  xxx.  16). 

3/4.  There  are  two  intermediate  causes  by  which  this 
happy  condition  of  things  is  to  be  produced.  First,  the 
yoke  that  burdeneth  them,  the  domination  of  Assyria, 
with  its  galling  tribute,  and  the  staff  on  their  shoulders, 
the  suffering  inflicted  upon  them  by  the  conqueror,  will 
be  broken,  brought  to  an  end.  Some  idea  of  the  weight 
of  the  Assyrian  yoke  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact, 
that  Menahem  had  to  pay  Tiglath-pileser  a  thousand 
talents  of  silver,  or  about  a  million  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  besides  an  annual  tribute  (2  Kgs.  xv.  19), 
for  the  privilege  of  governing  Israel ;  and  Ahaz  was 
obliged  to  purchase  the  right  to  call  himself  the  servant 
of  the  same  monarch  with  the  entire  contents  of  the 
public  coffers  (2  Kgs.  xvi.  8).  Moreover,  the  Assyrian 
kings,  according  to  their  own  testimony,  were  as  cruel 
as  they  were  avaricious.*  Such  is  the  taskmaster,  to 
whom  God's  people  have  been  consigned  for  chastise- 
ment. But  they  are  to  be  delivered,  as  suddenly  and 
gloriously  delivered,  as  in  the  day  when  Gideon  routed 
and  destroyed  the  numberless  host  of  Midian  (Jud.  vii. 

19  ff.> 

4/5.  Yea,  every  boot  tramping  noisily,  the  heavy,  noisy 
footwear  of  the  soldier  (comp.  Delitzsch)  and  the  cloak 
dragged  in  blood,  the  military  cloak  stained  with  the 
blood  of  battle,  —  every  relic  of  the  armies  that  have 
so  long  trampled  Palestine  under  foot  and  drenched  its 
soil  with  blood,  shall  be  burned,  utterly  destroyed. 

5/6.    Thus  far  there  has  been  no  indication  by  what 

*  The  Assyrian  inscriptions  abound  in  proofs  of  this  assertion.  See 
Schrader,  KB,  II.  4f.,  56 f.,  70  f.,  108  ff.,  etc 


210  ISA  I  A  FT.  [IX.  5/6 

means  the  Assyrians  are  to  be  overthrown  and  driven 
from  the  country.  The  instrument  chosen  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  also  for  the  purpose  of  giving  to  the  delivered 
people  lasting  prosperity  and  happiness,  is  now  intro- 
duced. The  prophet,  with  an  exultation  like  that  which 
he  has  just  described,  exclaims,  a  child  shall  be  born  to 
us.  There  are  two  things  with  reference  to  this  state- 
ment that  deserve  notice.  One  is  that  the  phrase  to 
us  is  not  emphatic,  as  the  English  version,  by  placing 
it  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  makes  it.  The 
other  is,  that,  as  xi.  I  conclusively  proves,  the  birth  of 
the  child  is  yet,  i.e.,  at  some  time  after  the  beginning  of 
the  period  of  darkness  (ix.  1/2),  something  to  be  ex- 
pected. This  being  the  case,  the  child  here  announced 
cannot,  as  is  widely  maintained  (Orelli),  be  Immanu-el ; 
for  his  birth  was  to  be  coincident  with  the  appearance 
of  the  Assyrians  in  Palestine.  In  fact,  this  child,  so 
far  from  being  one  with  Immanu-el,  is  contrasted  with 
him.  It  is  as  if  Isaiah  had  said :  The  king  and  his 
counsellors  have  attempted  the  part  of  Providence  and 
failed  :  their  Immanu-el  will  have  to  eat  curds  and  honey 
with  the  rest  of  us.  We  trust  in  Jehovah :  by  him  a 
son  shall  be  given  to  us,  who  shall  be,  not  the  sport  of 
circumstances,  but  a  power  for  the  restoration  of  the 
nation.*  The  prophet  proceeds  to  describe  the  child. 
the  sovereignty,  he  says,  shall  be  on  his  shoulder;  he 
shall  be  a  king,  with  all  the  dignity  and  authority  of  a 
sovereign.     The  titles  by  which  he  is  to  be  known  are 

*  The  identification  of  these  two  children  with  each  other  seems  to  have 
begun  before  the  close  of  the  canon.  See  Mic.  v.  3,  the  author  of  which, 
by  making  this  mistake,  betrays  that  he  is  not  Micah,  the  contemporary  of 
Isaiah. 


IX.  5/6]  COMMENTS.  211 

given.  They  are  not  mere  designations,  without  interest 
except  as  they  reflect  the  conditions  under  which  he  is 
to  be  born.  They  are,  so  to  speak,  the  decorations  be- 
stowed by  a  grateful  people  in  recognition  of  his  ex- 
alted character  and  services.  These  titles  are  four  in 
number:*  they  shall  call  him,  first,  Wondrous-counsellor. 
The  woman  of  Tekoa  who  came  to  David  to  plead  for 
the  restoration  of  Absalom,  when  she  was  taxed  with 
being  an  emissary  of  Joab,  said  to  the  king,  "  My  lord 
is  as  wise  as  the  angel  of  God,  knowing  all  that  is  in 
the  earth"  (2  Sam.  xiv.  20).  Extraordinary  wisdom  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  necessary  qualifications  of  a 
successful  ruler.  Hence  Solomon,  when  given  permis- 
sion to  ask  of  Jehovah  what  he  would,  besought  that, 
above  all,  he  might  have  a  heart  to  "discern  between 
good  and  evil"  (1  Kgs.  iii.  5  ff.).  The  coming  king  will 
be  so  richly  endowed  in  this  respect  that  he  will  fully 
meet  all  demands  upon  him,  and  justly  be  hailed  a 
wonder  of  wisdom.  The  source  of  this  wisdom  is  not 
indicated,  but  xi.  2  refers  it  to  the  spirit  of  Jehovah. 
Some,  struck  with  another  side  of  this  extraordinary 
character,  will  call  him  Mighty-lord.  It  devolves  upon 
the  ruler,  not  merely  to  decide  contests  between  his  sub- 

*  The  text,  as  punctuated,  would  read,  and  the  Wonder,  the  Counsellor, 
the  Mighty  God,  shall  call  his  name  Father-of-booty,  Prince-of-peace ;  but 
this  interpretation,  like  that  of  Luzzatto,  according  to  which  the  child's 
name  is  the  sentence,  Decreeth-wonders-the-mighty-God-the-alway-Father- 
the-Lord-of-peace,  was  evidently  dictated  by  a  desire  to  avoid  applying  the 
term  mighty  God  to  any  one  but  the  Deity.  See  also  the  Septuagint.  It 
is  also  a  mistake  to  regard  the  entire  group  of  words  as  a  single  name 
(Cheyne).  One  cannot  conceive  of  such  a  name  as  having  a  popular 
origin.  On  the  other  hand,  if  either  of  the  four  pairs  of  words  be  separated 
as  in  the  English  and  German  versions,  the  resulting  names  lack  the  like- 
ness in  form  and  tone  that  one  would  expect  in  such  a  series. 


212  ISAIAH.  [IX.  5/6 

jects,  but  also,  if  necessary,  to  enforce  his  decisions. 
Moreover,  he  it  is  to  whom  his  people,  as  a  whole,  have 
a  right  to  look  for  protection  from  external  enemies. 
He  is  therefore,  with  more  or  less  propriety,  called  a 
lord.  The  fitness  of  the  title  in  any  particular  case  de- 
pends upon  the  actual  power  of  the  given  ruler,  or,  from 
the  Hebrew  standpoint,  upon  the  degree  in  which  he 
approaches  the  power  of  the  Supreme  Lord.  Ahaz  was 
as  weak  as  he  was  unwise.  The  future  ruler,  like  David 
(2  Sam.  xvii.  10),  is  to  be  mighty.  How  great  is  to  be 
his  power,  the  prophet  does  not  here  attempt  to  de- 
scribe ;  but,  by  combining  with  this  passage  xi.  2,  prop- 
erly interpreted  in  Mic.  v.  4,  one  learns  that  he  is  to  be 
so  abundantly  endowed  with  the  spirit  of  Jehovah,  that, 
in  his  sphere,  he  will  be  practically  omnipotent.*     The 

*  The  original  of  this  title,  "1133  T>K,  has  been  rendered  in  various  other 
ways,  but  the  only  one  that  deserves  special  consideration  is  Mighty-God. 
The  second  of  these  words  is  not  an  exact  equivalent  of  T>K.  The  English 
word  denotes  an  object,  proper  or  improper,  of  worship;  and  is  not  cor- 
rectly used  in  any  other  sense.  The  Hebrew  word  has  a  different,  and 
a  more  extensive  signification.  It  is  applied,  not  only  to  the  true  God 
(xii.  2)  and  the  heathen  divinities  recognized  in  the  Old  Testament  (Deu. 
xxxii.  12),  but,  without  a  figure,  to  men  of  rank,  such  as  kings  (Eze.  xxxi. 
II,  xxxii.  21)  and  princes  (Ex.  xv.  15;  Job  xli.  17/25).  In  other  words, 
it  is  an  appellative  denoting  a  person  in  a  position  of  power  over  others, 
like  the  English  word  lord.  On  the  variation  in  its  orthography  (7N  and 
?"N),  a  Masoretic  device  to  distinguish  the  "sacred  "  from  the  "profane" 
use  of  it,  see  Bathgen,  BSR,  274.  On  the  further  question,  concerning 
the  precise  meaning  of  the  entire  name,  x.  21  has  been  supposed  to  have 
an  important  bearing  (Delitzsch) ;  but  this  is  a  mistake,  since  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  to  whom  the  title  is  there  applied.  The  most  plausible 
interpretation  is,  that,  in  both  cases,  it  refers  to  the  child  to  be  born  as  a 
great  king;  for,  in  Eze.  xxxii.  21,  the  plural  of  an  equivalent,  or,  if,  as 
seems  probable,  the  original  text  had  D'btf  instead  of  ^N,  of  the  same 
title,  is  applied  to  the  kings  of  a  number  of  great  nations;  and,  in  all  the 
passages  in  which  the  words  "1133  7K  are  clearly  used  of  Jehovah  (Deu.  x. 


IX.  5/6,  6/7]  COMMENTS.  213 

power  attributed  to  the  coming  king  is  such  as  fits  him 
for  success  in  war.  He  will  display  it  against  the  op- 
pressors of  his  country.  So  successful  will  he  be  in  his 
contest  with  them,  that  men  will  give  him  the  third  title, 
Booty-taker  (lit.  Father-qf-booty\  conqueror  (2  Sam.  xii. 
30).*  Finally,  he  will  be  called  Prince-of-peace,  be- 
cause, like  David  (2  Sam.  vii.  1),  by  his  success  in 
war,  he  has  secured  to  his  people  the  blessings  of 
peace  (Mic.  v.  4). 

6/7.  The  results  of  the  reign  of  this  ideal  king  will 
be  as  beneficial  as  his  character  is  remarkable.  He 
comes  for  the  enlargement  f  of  the  sovereignty,  to  extend 
the  dominion  and  the  authority  of  the  house  of  David 
(Am.  ix.  12);  and  for  endless  peace,  to  establish  a  lasting 
condition  of  peace  ;  on  the  throne  of  David,  ruling  as  the 
lineal  descendant  and  rightful  successor  of  the  founder 
of  the  dynasty,  over  his  kingdom.  He  will  devote  him- 
self to  establishing  %  and  strengthening  it,  insuring  it, 
as  far  as  possible,  against  disaster,  by  justice  and  right- 

17;  Jer.  xxxii.  18;  Neh.  ix.  32),  he  is  thus  distinguished  from  all  the  other 
gods  as  the  one  who  is  supremely  mighty. 

*  The  rendering  adopted  seems  required  by  the  context  and  justified  by 
the  use  of  *1U  in  the  sense  of  booty  in  xxxiii.  23;  also  in  Gen.  xlix.  27  and 
Zep.  iii.  8.  The  majority  of  exegetes  prefer  Father-of-continuance,  which 
is  explained  as  meaning,  either  that  the  person  in  question  will  live  forever 
(Guthe,  ZJ,  8,  41),  or  that  he  will  always  be  a  father  to  his  people 
(Orelli).  This  rendering,  also,  is  grammatically  defensible  (lvii.  15),  and 
it  has  the  support  of  Mic.  v.  2  (comp.  Wellhausen,  SV,  V,  142);  but  it 
does  not  harmonize  so  well  as  the  one  above  preferred  with  the  tone  of  the 
entire  passage,  or  furnish  so  good  a  connection  between  the  preceding  and 
the  following  title.  On  the  construction,  see  Ew.  §  273,  b;  Ols.  §  277,  e; 
Kon,  §  122,  5,  c,  n. 

t  For  nil  Ub  read  finish. 

J  On  the  construction  of  p3>"D,  see  Ges.  §  114,  2,  R.  4. 


214  ISAIAH.  [IX.  6/7 

eousness,  without  which  no  government  can  long  remain 
prosperous;  to  the  end  that,  although  he  may  give 
place  to  a  successor,  it  may  endure  forever,  to  the  end 
of  time.  See  2  Sam.  vii.  16.  This  is  a  glorious  pros-  >Uw^. 
pect.  It  must  have  been  difficult  for  some  of  the 
prophet's  disciples  to  believe  that  so  great  things  were 
in  store  for  the  nation.  He  has  no  misgivings.  The 
ground  of  his  confidence,  as  he  explains,  is  in  The  jeal- 
ousy of  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  indignation  that  must 
finally  be  aroused  in  him  at  the  excesses  by  which  the 
Assyrians  presume  to  interfere  with  his  purposes  con- 
cerning his  chosen  (Eze.  xxxvi.  5  f.). 

The  meaning,  then,  of  Isaiah's  great  announcement, 
is,  that  there  is  soon  to  be  born  a  prince  of  the  house 
of  David,  who  will  develop  into  so  perfect  a  king,  that 
he  will  be  able,  not  only  to  deliver  his  people  from  their 
Assyrian  oppressors,  but  to  establish  them  in  an  exalted 
and  enduring  position  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  ask  the  question  whether  the 
prophecy  was  fulfilled.  There  never  arose  a  king  to 
rule  over  Judah  who  bore  any  such  character,  or 
achieved  so  great  and  lasting  results.  What  then  ? 
Was  Isaiah  not  a  prophet  ?  One  might  say,  in  reply, 
that  he  deserves  the  title  "prophet"  for  discerning 
what  was  needed  to  restore  the  Hebrews  to  their  former 
position  in  the  world ;  and  add,  that  the  prophecy  was 
fulfilled,  in  a  degree,  by  more  than  one  of  the  subse- 
quent rulers  of  Judah.  This  view  of  the  question,  how- 
ever, is  incomplete,  because  it  forbids  the  connection 
with  Jesus  on  which  Christians  in  all  ages  have  insisted. 
To  find  the  complete  answer,  one  must  go  deeper.  It 
runs   something   like   this:   The    Hebrews  believed  in 


IX.  6/7]  COMMENTS.  215 

God :  they  believed  also  in  man ;  and  that  the  former 
could  manifest  himself  through  the  latter.  This  divinely 
inspired  conviction  furnished  them,  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, with  an  explanation  for  excellence  of  every 
sort  (Jud.  xiii.  25;  Ex.  xxxi.  3;  Gen.  xli.  38;  Num. 
xxiv.  2);  and,  in  any  emergency,  with  a  remedy  for  the 
situation.  The  redemptive  idea  took  different  forms  in 
different  periods  of  Hebrew  history  (xi.  1  ff. ;  xlii.  1  ff.). 
Toward  the  end  of  the  monarchy,  as  in  the  passage 
under  consideration,  it  assumed  that  of  the  expectation 
of  an  ideal  king.  This  expectation,  as  has  already  been 
asserted,  was  not  fulfilled  by  any  king  who  ever  sat  on 
the  throne  of  David ;  for  the  reason  that  none  of  them 
was  sufficiently  in  harmony  with  Jehovah  to  be  a  per- 
fect instrument  in  his  hands.  In  the  literal  sense,  it 
was  not  fulfilled  by  Jesus ;  but  for  exactly  the  contrary 
reason.  He  was  so  completely  one  with  the  Father, 
that,  refusing  to  be  called  merely  the  Son  of  David,  he 
could  claim  to  be  at  once  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son 
of  God  (Mat.  xvi.  13  ff.).  In  other  words,  he  fulfilled, 
not  this,  or  any  other,  definite  prediction  ;  but  the  grand 
prophetic  thought  that  underlay  them  all,  and  that  had 
found  more  or  less  inspired  and  inspiring  expression 
also  among  the  Gentiles ;  and,  as  the  supreme  manifes- 
tation of  the  divine  in  the  human  (1  Tim.  iii.  16),  he 
became  the  perfect  Saviour  of  universal  humanity  (1  Pet. 
i.  20  f.).  As  for  Isaiah,  he  must  still  be  counted  a 
prophet ;  because  his  teaching,  though  imperfect,  was 
in  line  with  what  now  appears  to  have  been  the  divine 
purpose,  and  therefore  calculated  to  prepare  his  people 
for  all  the  blessings  of  the  old  covenant,  and  finally  for 
the  advent  of  the  incarnate  Redeemer. 


216  ISAIAH.  [IX.  7/8,  8/g 

The  rest  of  this  book  consists  of  a  group  of  prophe- 
cies, of  various  dates,  the  general  subject  of  which  may 
be  stated  as 

b.    THE    WORK  OF  JEHOVAH  (ix.  7/8-xii.  6). 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  composite  piece,  describing 

(l)  A  Succession  of  Chastisements  (ix.  7/8-x.  4) ;  — 
the  greater  part  of  which  (ix.  7/8-20/21)  is  evidently 
an  imitation  of  Am.  ii.  9  ff.,  and,  therefore,  probably 
one  of  Isaiah's  earliest  utterances.  The  rest  of  it 
(x.  1-4),  as  will  appear,  belongs  to  another  connection. 
The  whole  forms  four  strophes,  the  first  of  which  tells 
how  Israel,  in  the  narrower  sense,  has  been  plagued 
with 

(a)  Foreign  Foes  (ix.  7/8-1 1/1 2).  —  7/8.  It  opens 
with  the  declaration,  that  A  decree  *  is  about  to  be  sent 
by  the  Lord.f  This  decree  can  hardly  be  the  following 
prophecy  as  a  whole  (Orelli),  which  is  largely  a  review 
of  the  chastisements  that  Jehovah  has  already  decreed ; 
but  it  must  be  sought  elsewhere,  viz.  in  v.  26-30,  where 
the  people  are  threatened  with  an  invasion  of  the  Assy- 
rians. It  is  to  be  sent  among  Jacob  ;  i.e.,  as  is  explained 
in  the  next  verse,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Northern  King- 
dom;  and  it,  or,  strictly,  the  calamity  decreed  (lv.  11), 
shall  fall,!  take  effect,  among  Israel. 

8/9.  When  this  happens,  the  people  will  at  last,  but 
too  late,  take  knowledge ;  realize  that  it  is  God  with 
whom   they  have   had  to  do  (Hos.  ix.  7).     This  they 

*  For  "CH,  word,  the  Septuagint  read  "Q"!)  plague. 

t  Instead  of  'OIN,  Lord,  many  codices  have  n\T,  Jehovah. 

X  On  the  construction  of  7211,  see  Ges.  §  1 12,  3,  c,  5;   comp.  Dri.  §  133. 


IX.  8/9-H/X2]  COMMENTS.  217 

have  not  heretofore  realized  (i.  3);  as,  e.g.,  when  they 
[spake]  *  in  pride  and  arrogance,  instead  of  humility 
and  submission,  after  some  of  their  towns  had  been 
laid  waste.  Bricks,  often  undried,  from  time  immemo- 
rial the  material  used  for  ordinary  houses  in  Palestine 
(Thomson,  LB,  I.  163  ff.),  are  fallen,  the  houses  made 
of  them  have  been  destroyed ;  but  we  will  rebuild  with 
hewn  stone,  finer  and  more  substantial  houses.  See 
Am.  v.  11.  The  sentiment  is  repeated:  sycamores,  a 
kind  of  trees  once  very  common  in  the  country,  and,  on 
account  of  their  durability,  much  used  in  building 
(1  Kgs.  x.  27),  are  hewn  in  pieces,  not  cut  down  (Jer.  1. 
23  ;  comp.  Hitzig),  by  the  enemy ;  but  we  will  replace 
them,  in  new  houses,  with  cedars,  viz.  of  Lebanon, 
throughout  the  East  highly  prized  for  building  purposes 
(2  Sam.  v.  1 1  ;   1  Kgs.  vi.  9  ff.). 

10/ 1 1.  The  injury  thus  done  the  country  must  have 
been  done  before  Isaiah  began  his  ministry ;  for,  it  was 
because  the  people  were  not  humbled  by  it,  that  Jehovah 
upheld  their  adversaries  f  against  them ;  and  these  ad- 
versaries, as  appears  from  the  next  verse,  were  the 
Syrians,  whom  Tiglath-pileser  overthrew  in  732  B.C. 

11/12.    While  the  Syrians,  the  hereditary  enemies  of 

*  A  verb,  perhaps  the  form  D'H^IEn  (lit.  those  speaking),  seems  to 
have  fallen  out  of  the  text. 

f  The  text  has  j"a"1  vTXj  the  adversaries  of  Resin,  but  this  reading  is 
impossible.  Several  forms  of  emendation  have  been  suggested.  Thus, 
Lagarde  would  omit  '"lit  {adversaries  of),  and  Houbigant,  with  a  number 
of  codices,  change  it  to  'HIP,  princes ;  while  JDMichaelis,  following  the 
Septuagint,  turns  p!f"l,  Resin,  into  JVJJ,  Zion,  or  J"U  "H,  Mount  Zion.  But 
neither  of  these  suggestions  is  so  satisfactory  as  that  of  Bredenkamp,  who 
omits  '111,  and  changes  J*in  to  V1JC,  his,  i.e.,  their,  adversaries,  the  read- 
ing above  adopted. 


21S  ISAIAH.  [IX.  11/12-14/15 

Israel  (1  Kgs.  xv.  20,  etc.),  attacked  them  from  the  east, 
or,  rather,  the  northeast,  the  Philistines  invaded  their 
country  from  the  west,  or,  more  exactly,  the  southwest. 
There  is  no  record  of  the  particular  invasion  here  men- 
tioned, but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Philistines  were 
always  on  the  lookout  for  opportunities  to  prey  upon 
the  Northern,  as  well  as  the  Southern,  Kingdom.  See 
2  Chr.  xxviii.  18.  The  damage  done  was  great,  for 
these  swarming  foes  devoured  .  .  .  with  open  mouth, 
greedily.  Still  Jehovah  did  not  relent;  his  hand  was 
outstretched  still.     See  v.  25. 

The  next  means  by  which  Jehovah  is  represented  as 
punishing  his  people  seems  to  have  been 

(b)  Merciless  Pestilence (vv.  12/13-16/17).  — 12/13.  The 
reason  for  this  additional  infliction  is,  that  the  people 
returned  not  to  him  that  smote  them,*  Jehovah.  Comp. 
x.  20. 

13/14.  Therefore  he  cut  off  from  Israel  head  and  tail, 
all  classes,  without  discrimination.  The  same  idea  is 
repeated  under  the  figure  of  the  palm-tip  and  rush, 
the  lordliest  and  the  humblest  form  of  vegetation.  All 
this  took  place  in  a  day,  a  startlingly  brief  space  of 
time. 

14/15.  There  follows  a  different  interpretation,  ac- 
cording to  which  The  elder,  the  corrupt  ruler  in  the 
community,  and  the  favorite  at  court,  are  the  head,  one 

*  The  form  irCttH,  lit.  the  one  smiting  him,  with  both  the  article  and 
a  suffix,  which  is  sometimes  characterized  as  an  anomaly  (Ges.  §  116,  3, 
n.  2),  is  no  stranger  than  13  BUSH,  the  one  oppressing  him,  in  v.  3.  The 
only  difference  is,  that,  in  this  case,  the  participle  takes  the  accusative  after 
it,  and  not,  as  in  the  other,  the  genitive  with  2.  See  Gen.  xlii.  29.  La- 
garde  proposes  to  read  THQ  =  "HO,  for  "117. 


IX.  14/15-16/17]  COMMENTS.  219 

class  destined  for  destruction ;  and  the  prophet  that 
teacheth  falsehood,  and  thus  misleads  the  people,  the 
tail,  another,  and  less  reputable,  class.  This  interpreta- 
tion is  so  inconsistent  with  the  evident  meaning  of  the 
preceding  verse  that  it  cannot  be  by  Isaiah.  Its  severity 
upon  the  false  prophets  indicates  that  it  must  be  as  late 
as,  if  not  later  than,  Jeremiah.  See  Jer.  xiv.  14;  Eze. 
xiii.  9  ;  comp.  Delitzsch. 

15/16.  The  prophet  now  returns  to  the  subject  of 
v.  12/13,  the  cause  of  Jehovah's  severity,  declaring,  that 
the  guides,  leaders,  of  Israel  had  become  seducers ;  and 
that,  through  them,  their  followers,  those  who  depended 
upon  them  for  guidance,  were  destroyed.* 

16/17.  The  entire  people  had  to  suffer  for  the  sins 
of  the  leaders.  Jehovah  spared  f  not  even  their  youths, 
to  whom,  on  account  of  their  youth  and  comparative 
irresponsibility,  he  might  have  been  expected  to  show 
some  clemency  (Am.  viii.  13).  neither  had  he  pity  on 
their  orphans  and  widows,  elsewhere  represented  as  the 
objects  of  his  peculiar  care  (i.  7).  for,  says  the  next 
line,  they  were  all,  not  all  the  orphans  and  widows, 
although  that  is  the  natural  meaning  as  the  text  is  now 

*  This  verse,  also,  is  regarded  by  Duhm  as  an  editorial  addition. 
Cheyne  rescues  it  by  omitting  both  13/14  and  14/15.  There  certainly  is 
something  the  matter  with  the  text  at  this  point,  for  it  is  clear  that  the 
second  couplet  of  v.  16/17  was  never  intended  for  its  present  position. 
The  connection  would  be  greatly  improved  if  v.  14/15  were  omitted,  and 
vv.  13/14  and  16/ 17  a/3  changed  places.  This,  however,  would  not  meet  all 
the  difficulties :  the  strophe  would  still  be  a  couplet  shorter  than  the  other 
two.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  at  least  one  couplet  has  been  lost,  and 
that  v.  14/15  was  inserted  to  fill  the  vacant  space.  If  two  have  thus  been 
replaced,  the  second  is  doubtless  v.  15/16,  whose  likeness  to  iii.  12  gives 
some  grounds  for  suspecting  its  genuineness. 

f  n2D*  (xxxi.  5),  with  Lagarde,  for  HSVT,  rejoiced. 


220  ISAIAH.  [IX.  16/17-18/19 

arranged,  but  all  the  people,  faithless  and  wicked.  On 
the  other  hand,  For  all  this,  etc.,  must  be  connected,  not 
with  this  charge,  but  with  the  description  of  Jehovah's 
severity  toward  the  orphans  and  widows,  or,  by  a  re- 
arrangement of  the  text,  with  the  similar  description  in 

v.  13/14-* 

The  date  of  the  infliction  here  described  cannot  be 
determined.     See  Am.  iv.  10. 

The  third  strophe  describes  how  Israel  was  weakened 
and  wellnigh  destroyed  by 

(c)  Internal  Strife  (vv.  17/ 18-20/21).  —  17/1S.  This 
condition  of  things  is  viewed,  first,  as  a  reign  of  godless- 
ness,  and  compared  to  a  fire,  set  among  thorns  and 
briers,  which  finally  attacks  the  thickets,  thick-set  trees, 
of  the  forest.  See  Thomson,  LB,  II.  293.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  figure  is  evident ;  viz.  that  the  first  effects  of 
the  wickedness  of  the  people  were  comparatively  slight, 
but  that  it  finally  brought  upon  them  wide-spread  de- 
struction. It  was  like  the  disappearance  of  a  forest  in 
a  column  of  smoke.     Comp.  Delitzsch. 

18/19.  From  another  standpoint  it  was  the  fury  of 
Jehovah  by  which  the  land  was  consumed.!  It  was  by 
his  decree  that  the  people,  on  account  of  their  persist- 

*  The  strophe,  so  far  as  it  has  been  preserved,  if  rearranged  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  above  suggestions,  would  read  as  follows : 

12  Yet  the  people  returned  not  to  him  that  smote  them,  and  Jehovah 
of  Hosts  they  sought  not;  1Ca£  for  they  were  all  faithless  and  wicked  and 
every  mouth  spake  folly.  .  .  .  h'"a  Therefore  the  Lord  spared  not  their 
youths,  neither  had  he  pity  on  their  orphans  and  widows;  13and  Jehovah 
cut  off  from  Israel  head  and  tail,  palm-tip  and  rush,  in  one  day.  l6*  For 
all  this  his  anger  turned  not,  but  his  hand  was  outstretched  still. 

t  For  Dni?3  read,  with  Krochmal,  HflSD. 


IX.  18/ ig-20/21]  COMMENTS.  221 

ence  in  wickedness,  became  as  it  were  fuel  for  the  fire.* 
The  rest  of  the  verse  is  misplaced. 

19/20.  The  figure  is  now  changed.  The  people  are 
represented  as  greedy  guests  at  a  revolting  feast,  they 
cut  to  the  right  .  .  .  and  ate  to  the  left,  everything 
within  their  reach,  without  being  satisfied.  The  char- 
acter of  the  feast  is  brought  out  in  the  last  line  of  v. 
18/19,  No  one  spared  his  brother,  which  belongs  here, 
and  the  rest  of  this  one,  they  ate,  every  one  the  flesh  of 
his  fellow ;  f  devoured  one  another  in  civil  war. 

20/21.  Finally,  in  their  savage  fury,  Manasseh  and 
Ephraim,  the  most  nearly  related  of  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel,  representing  the  factions  from  whose  struggles 
that  kingdom  had  but  lately  suffered  (2  Kgs.  xv.  25), 
combined  against  Judah.  They  forgot  their  disputes, 
and  even  their  inherited  antipathy  to  Syria,  when  an 
opportunity  offered  to  do  their  southern  kinsmen  harm. 
This  seems  to  be  the  state  of  things  described  in  2  Kgs. 
xv.  37 ;  in  other  words,  this  strophe  probably  brings  the 
prophet's  review  of  Israel's  unfortunate  history  nearly 
down  to  the  date  of  the  prophecy.  Yet  this  is  not  the 
end.  The  hand  of  Jehovah  was  outstretched  still  against 
them. 

The  refrain  requires  at  least  one  more  strophe ;  but, 
if  the  one  just  concluded  dealt  with  recent  events,  there 

*  Duhm  has  an  interesting  conjecture  on  this  phrase.  For  w'K  riTCXEw 
he  would  read  ITK  "bSH  1M,  like  eaters  of  men,  cannibals,  and  thus  pre- 
pare the  reader  for  v.  19/20.  The  objection  to  it  is,  that,  since  the  fury 
of  Jehovah  is  naturally  represented  as  fire  (Eze.  xxi.  36/31),  and  DrU'3 
either  means  bum,  or  has  taken  the  place  of  a  word  of  that  import,  some 
reference  to  fire  in  this  line  is  to  be  expected.  It  would  be  better  to  drop 
the  couplet  altogether  as  a  gloss  to  v.  1 7/1S. 

t  1SH,  with  Seeker,  for  WIT,  his  arm,  as  in  Jer.  xix.  9. 


222  ISAIAH.  [X.  i,  2 

cannot  well  be  more  than  one  or  two  additional;  and 
it,  or  they,  should  contain  a  prediction  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Israel.  The  next  four  verses,  in  which  the  alter- 
native, 

(d)  Death  or  Captivity  (x.  1-4),  —  is  presented,  at  first 
sight  seems  to  meet  this  requirement.  Such,  however, 
is  not  the  case.  The  refrain  at  the  end  of  v.  4  makes  it 
impossible  to  regard  the  strophe,  in  its  present  form,  as 
the  conclusion  of  this,  or  any  other  prophecy.  Nor 
does  the  removal  of  the  refrain  mend  matters ;  for,  it  is 
clear  from  the  familiarity  of  the  prophet  with  the  prac- 
tices of  those  who  are  condemned,  that  he  is  addressing, 
not  Israel,  but  Judah ;  in  other  words,  that  these  verses 
do  not  belong  to  the  same  discourse  as  ix.  7/8-20/21. 
Obliged  by  these  reasons  to  look  elsewhere  for  a  con- 
clusion, and  guided  by  the  appearance  of  the  familiar 
refrain  in  v.  25,  one  at  length  finds  what  is  sought  in 
v.  26-30.  At  the  same  time,  both  the  form  and  the 
content  of  the  paragraph  now  under  consideration  lead 
one  to  place  it,  minus  the  refrain,  among  the  woes  of  the 
fifth  chapter.     Comp.  Cheyne,  IBI,  46  f.* 

x.  1.  The  prophet  addresses  himself  to  them  that 
record  iniquitous  decrees,  the  judges  already  more  than 
once  arraigned  for  their  injustice.  The  same  are  prob- 
ably meant  by  the  writers  that  engross  trouble,  decisions 
that  work  hardship.     Comp.  Dillmann. 

2.    That  judges,  and  not  legislators,  are  meant,  seems 

*  Cheyne,  following  Evvald,  inserts  x.  1-4  between  ix.  20/21  and  v.  26; 
and  thus,  besides  introducing  a  woe  against  Judah  into  a  prophecy  con- 
cerning Israel,  furnishes  this  prophecy  with  a  very  inartistic  double  con- 
clusion, the  two  parts  of  which  are  separated  by  a  refrain  that  Isaiah 
would  not  have  used  in  a  prediction. 


X.  2-4]  COMMENTS.  223 

to  be  indicated  by  the  terms  in  which  the  prophet  de- 
velops his  accusation.  The  persons  arraigned  are 
accused  of  turning  the  lowly  from  judgment,  preventing 
them  from  obtaining  their  rights.  This  is  the  negative 
side  of  their  offence :  the  positive  is,  that  widows  are 
their  prey,  and  orphans  their  plunder.     See  i.  23. 

3.  The  prophet's  indignation  is  aroused  at  the  thought 
of  such  injustice.  It  docs  not  occur  to  him  to  doubt 
that  it  will  be  punished,  and  that  the  penalty  will  be  a 
terrible  one.  What,  then,  he  demands,  will  ye  do 
against  the  day  of  retribution?  how  prepare  yourselves 
(Am.  iv.  12)  to  meet  Jehovah,  the  Judge  of  the  whole 
earth,  when  he  comes  to  reward  you  according  to  your 
desert  ?  It  is  the  day  of  destruction  (lit.  tempest)  that 
cometh,  at  the  command  of  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth, 
from  afar,  the  distant  region  of  Assyria  (v.  26).  He 
insists  upon  an  examination  of  their  resources.  To 
whom  will  ye  flee  for  help,  against  the  Almighty  ?  and 
where  will  ye  bestow  yourselves  (Ml.  your  glory,  soul),  to 
be  safe  from  his  vengeance  ?  * 

4.  Isaiah  does  not  wait  for  an  answer  to  his  question. 
He  knows  that  the  accused  are  helpless.  He  therefore 
proceeds,  in  Jehovah's  name,  and  with  a  brevity  that 
greatly  enhances  its  impressiveness,  to  pronounce  their 

*  Both  of  these  questions  have  a  pregnant  construction.  In  the  former, 
the  use  of  bv,  on,  instead  of  ^K,  to,  gives  to  the  sentence  the  force  of, 
On  whom,  fleeing,  will  ye  rely  for  help?  and  in  the  latter  flStf,  whither,  has 
a  similar  effect.  In  this  case  the  complete  expression  would  be,  Whither 
will  ye  betake  and  bestow  yourselves  ?  On  the  construction,  see  Ges.  §  119, 
4;  comp.  Buhl.  The  usual  rendering  for  D3TG3  is  your  wealth  (Skin- 
ner), a  rarer  one  your  nobility  (Henderson);  but  parallelism  requires  the 
one  above  given,  and  it  is  supported  by  such  passages  as  Ps.  vii.  6  and 
xvi.  10. 


224  ISAIAH.  [X.  4 

sentence.  It  is  in  the  form  of  an  alternative :  Whoso 
sinketh  not,  exhausted  by  fatigue  or  privation,  under 
the  feet  of  prisoners,  his  fellows  in  fetters,  shall  fall, 
before  the  arms  of  the  conqueror,  beneath,  and  one  of, 
the  slain.*  Here  ends  the  strophe,  if  such,  in  this 
connection,  it  may  be  called ;  the  refrain,  since  it  can 
properly  refer  only  to  the  past,  being  an  editorial  addi- 
tion, made  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  the  whole  with 
the  three  strophes  preceding. 

It  was  early  in  Isaiah's  career  when  the  prophecies 
just  examined  were  delivered.  The  Assyrians  had  then, 
however,  already  made  their  appearance  in  the  West. 
The  prophet  saw  in  them  the  instrument  by  which 
Jehovah  intended  to  punish  his  people,  as  well  as  the 
surrounding  nations,   for  their  offences ;    and   he   was 

*  The  passage  is  a  difficult  one.  It  seems  to  read,  literally,  Except  one 
have  sunk  under  a  prisoner,  and  under  the  slain  shall  they  fall ;  but  1  must 
often  be  translated  then,  rather  than  and,  or  omitted,  when  it  introduces 
an  apodosis.  See  Ges.  §  154.  Moreover,  the  use  of  the  singular  for  the 
plural,  both  of  the  noun  and  the  verb,  is  of  frequent  occurrence.  See 
Ges.  §§  123,  b;  144,  3,  a.  The  interpretation  adopted,  therefore,  is  lin- 
guistically defensible;  and,  being  in  harmony  with  the  evident  meaning  of 
the  context,  is  probably  a  substantially  accurate  reproduction  of  what  the 
prophet  intended  to  say.  Similarly  the  Peshita.  Another  possible  trans- 
lation is,  [Naught  remaineth  for  them~\  except  to  sink  tinder  prisoners  {as 
a  prisoner}  and  {or}  fall  under  the  slain  (Delitzsch).  See,  however,  the 
difference  in  tense  between  the  verbs.  Many  other  interpretations  have 
been  suggested,  but  none  of  those  based  on  the  present  text  is  so  satis- 
factory as  either  of  the  two  given.  Lagarde  has  suggested  an  ingenious 
emendation  of  the  text.  He  would  read  the  first  line  fin  JlUlb  '^r?? 
TDK,  Beltis  bowelh,  Osiris  is  broken.  Comp.  xlvi.  I.  This  is  very  striking 
and  attractive,  since  these  gods  may  be  regarded  as  representing  Assyria 
and  Egypt,  the  two  powers  to  which  the  Jews  alternately  turned  for  as- 
sistance; but,  on  second  thought,  it  seems  almost  too  abrupt  to  be  the 
correct  reading. 


X.  5-7]  COMMENTS.  225 

content  that  they  should  do  their  work.  Years  later, 
when,  one  after  another,  the  kings  of  Assyria  had  over- 
run Palestine;  when  Israel  had  been  destroyed,  and 
Judah  was  threatened  with  a  similar  fate ;  he  became 
better  acquainted  with  the  conquerors,  and  began  to 
inquire  how  long  their  haughty  cruelty  was  to  go  un- 
checked. The  answer  to  this  question  is  his  prophecy 
concerning 

(2)  The  Rod  of  God's  Anger  (x.  5—34).  —  In  its  present 
form,  it  is  divisible  into  four  sections,  the  first  of  which 
recites 

(a)  The  Boast  of  the  Assyrian  (vv.  5—1 1).  —  5.  The 
Woe  with  which  the  prophet  begins  anticipates  the 
specific  denunciations  of  the  next  section.  It  is  pro- 
nounced upon  Assyria  as  represented  by  its  king  (vii. 
17,  20).  Jehovah  calls  him  the  rod  of  his  anger,  the 
instrument  of  his  displeasure,  and  a  staff  at  his  command 
in  the  day  of  his  vengeance.* 

6.  He  sent  him  Against  a  faithless  nation,  his  chosen, 
but  rebellious,  people,  the  Hebrews;  who,  by  their  faith- 
lessness, had  aroused  his  fury.  He  commissioned  him 
to  take  booty,  conquer  them  ;  and  to  trample  them  like 
the  mire  of  the  streets,  completely  subjugate  them. 

7.  The  Assyrian,  however,  was  not  so  minded,  was 
not  in  harmony  with  the  divine  purpose ;  for  it  was  in 

*  The  text  has  l&Bl  DTD  RVI  ntSti ;  an  impossible  construction.  Various 
emendations  have  been  suggested :  as,  e.g.,  the  omission  of  the  first  word, 
after  the  rendering  of  the  Septuagint  (Bredenkamp) ;  the  second  (Lowth) ; 
or  the  second  and  the  third  (Hitzig)  ;  but  the  last  makes  the  line  too  short ; 
and  the  other  two  leave  the  figure  unclear,  and  the  suffix  of  DT3,  in  (heir 
hand,  unexplained.  All  these  objections  are  avoided  by  adopting  Seeker's 
suggestion,  and  changing  DT2  to  DFS,  in  Ike  day  of,  as  in  the  above  trans- 
lation. 


226  ISAIAH.  [X.  7-9 

his  heart,  as  an  aim  and  ambition,  to  destroy  his  rivals 
and  cut  off  nations  not  a  few,  as  many  as  possible ;  thus 
extending  his  own  empire.     See  xlvii.  6;  Zee.  i.  15. 

8.  The  disposition  of  the  great  king  appears  in  the 
first  words  put  into  his  mouth.  He  says,  Are  not  my 
princes,  the  governors  of  the  various  divisions  of  the 
empire,  all  kings  ?  This  might  mean  that  they  were 
conquered  sovereigns  (2  Kgs.  xvii.  3).  Some  of  them 
were,  but  others  were  Assyrian  officers ;  hence  it  is 
probable  that  Isaiah  here  intends  to  represent  the 
Assyrian  monarch  as  claiming,  what  was  doubtless  true, 
that  his  governors,  whether  they  had  the  royal  title  or 
not,  were  at  least  equal  in  power  to  the  kings  of  western 
Asia.  See  xxxvi.  9.  This,  however,  does  not  exhaust 
the  meaning  of  the  question.  It  is  intended,  not  to 
exalt  the  princes  referred  to,  but,  as  appears  from  the 
following  verses,  to  suggest  the  invincibility  of  their 
lord  and  master.  Moreover,  it  is  perfectly  in  character; 
for  Sennacherib,  in  the  inscription  over  his  picture  of 
the  capture  of  Lakish,  calls  himself  "  king  of  nations," 
as  well  as  "  king  of  Assyria."  * 

9.  The  boaster  proceeds  to  demonstrate  the  folly  of 
opposing  him.  Is  not  Kalno  as  Karkemish  ?  they  have 
been  taken,  the  one  as  well  as  the  other.  Kalno,  the 
Kalneh  of  Am.  vi.  2,  can  hardly  be  the  Kulunu  (Zirlab) 
in  Babylonia  taken  by  Sargon  (Schrader,  KA  T,  444 ; 
Fried.  Delitzsch ;  IVP,  225  f.):  it  is  probably  either 
Kunulua  (Kinalia),  the  capital  of  Patin,  in  northern 
Syria,  taken  by  Tiglath-pileser  in  740  B.C.  (Guthe,  Z/, 

*  See  also  the  introduction  to  the  famous  Taylor  Cylinder,  where  he  is 
entitled  "  the  great  king,  the  mighty  king,  the  king  of  the  world,  the  king 
of  Assyria,  the  king  of  the  four  quarters"  (Schrader,  KB,  II.  80 f.). 


X.  9,  io]  COMMENTS.  227 

43;  Meyer,  GA,  I.  448);  or  the  Gullani  (Kullani)  against 
which,  according  to  the  Eponym  Canon,  this  latter  king 
directed  his  operations  in  738  (Tiele,  BAG,  230;  Winck- 
ler,  AC/,  131;  Cheyne,  IB/,  50);  more  probably  the 
latter.  Karkemish  (Ass.  Gargamis)  was  the  capital  of 
the  Hittites,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  upper  Euphrates, 
at  the  site  of  the  modern  Jerabis  (Delitzsch,  WP,  265  ff.). 
It  was  taken  for  the  last  time  by  the  Assyrians  under 
Sargon  in  717  B.C.  (Schrader,  KAT,  384 f . ;  KB,  38  f . ; 
McCurdy,  HPM,  II.  243;  Ragozin,  SA,  261).  Four 
more  conquered  cities,  two  pairs,  are  enumerated  :  first, 
Hamath,  on  the  Orontes,  just  beyond  the  northern  limit 
of  the  Promised  Land  (Num.  xxxiv.  8),  now  Hamah. 
It  submitted  to  Tiglath-pileser  in  738  (Schrader,  KAT, 
220  f.,  252  f . ;  KB,  II.  20  f.,  26  f.),  but  it  had  to  be  re- 
conquered by  Sargon  in  720  (Schrader,  KAT,  323  f . ; 
KB,  II.  56  f. ;  McCurdy,  HPM,  II.  240;  Ragozin,  SA, 
255).  The  other  three  cities  were  concerned  in  the 
revolt,  as  the  result  of  which  Hamath  lost  its  indepen- 
dence ;  but  they  seem  to  have  returned  to  their  alle- 
giance, when  they  saw  their  ally  crushed.  They  had 
all  recently  felt  the  power  of  Assyria,  and  they  shrank 
from  the  prospect  of  a  repetition  of  that  experience. 
Arpad,  now  Tell  Erfad,  a  few  miles  north  of  Aleppo, 
had  been  conquered  after  a  struggle  of  three  years,  in 
740  B.C.,  by  Tiglath-pileser  (Schrader,  KA  T,  486  f. ;  KB, 
I.  212  f. ;  McCurdy,  HPM,  I.  337;  Ragozin,  SA,  226); 
Damascus,  after  one  of  two  years,  in  732,  by  the  same 
king  (Intr.  Stud.  II.);  and  Samaria,  after  one  of  three 
years,  in  722,  by  Sargon  (Intr.  Stud.  II.). 

10.    These  six  cities,  among  the  strongest  within  the 
Jewish  horizon,  have  fallen  before  the  Assyrians.     The 


228  ISAIAH.  [X.  10 

lesson  is  obvious,  but  the  king  is  represented  as  giving 
it  an  explicit  statement.  In  so  doing  he  uses  the  expres- 
sion my  hands.  This  must  not  be  taken  strictly,  since 
neither  Sargon  nor  Sennacherib  could  claim  that  he 
had  personally  subdued  all  the  cities  mentioned.  It  is 
the  hands  of  the  people  whom  the  speaker  represents 
that  have  seized  these  kingdoms.*  The  kingdoms  are 
described  as  kingdoms  which  had  statues, f  of  their 
divinities,  above  those  of  Jerusalem  and  Samaria.  It  is 
most  natural  to  interpret  this  as  meaning  that  the  cities 
first  enumerated,  except  Samaria,  had,  each  of  them,  a 
larger  number  of  idols  than  either  of  the  two  last 
named.  Comp.  Henderson.  This  means,  of  course, 
what  the  next  verse  more  clearly  expresses,  that  Samaria 
had  worshipped  idols,  and  that  Jerusalem  was  now  de- 
pending upon  them  for  protection.  The  former  of  these 
statements  cannot  be  gainsaid.  At  any  rate,  according 
to  the  books  of  Kings,  Israel  was  an  idolatrous  kingdom; 
and,  in  fact,  idolatry  was  the  sin  which  had  most  to  do 
with  its  destruction  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  9ff.).  The  statement 
concerning  Jerusalem,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  con- 
firmed by  the  Hebrew  historian ;  for,  whether  Sargon 
or  Sennacherib  be  the  mouth-piece  of  Assyria,  the  date 
of  the  prophecy  falls  within  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  the 
king  of  Judah  who  distinguished  himself  by  destroying 
the  high-places  and  removing  the  symbols  of  false  relig- 
ion from  his  borders  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  4).     Moreover,  in  the 

*  The  text  has  T7KH  robfitt?,  the  kingdoms  of  the  idol,  or  idols;  but 
the  strangeness  of  the  expression,  both  in  form  and  content,  makes  it 
probable  that  the  original  reading  was  rDXn  robttET',  these  kingdoms,  as 
above.     See  Am.  vi.  2;   comp.  Duhm. 

f  For  DITTOS,  their  statues,  read  D!T?  D'TCD,  statues  to  them. 


X.  IO-I2]  COMMENTS.  229 

account  of  Sennacherib's  invasion,  the  Assyrian  spokes- 
man recognizes  Jehovah  as  the  God  and  Champion  of 
Judah  (2  Kgs.  xviii.  32  ff. ;  xix.  10  ff.). 

n.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  not  probable  that  Isaiah 
wrote  the  words  just  quoted,  or  put  into  the  mouth  of 
the  Assyrian  the  question  with  which  the  paragraph 
now  closes,  as  I  have  done  to  Samaria  and  its  idols,  shall 
I  not  do  to  Jerusalem  and  its  images  ?  Both  verses  must 
have  been  added  to  the  text  by  a  later  writer  who,  for 
some  reason,  did  not  notice  the  discrepancy  between 
them  and  the  preceding  context.* 

The  second  section  of  the  prophecy  describes 
(b)  The  Overthrow  of  the  Boaster  {vv.  12-19).  —  It  is 
not  entirely  the  work  of  Isaiah  ;  in  fact,  there  are  but 
two  or  three  verses, —  13  and  14,  and  perhaps  15, — 
which,  in  their  present  form,  can  have  been  written  by 
him. 

12.  The  boaster  is  to  be  punished,  but  only  when  the 
Lord  shall  have  finished  his  whole  work,  the  chastise- 
ment of  his  people,  in  Jerusalem.  Then  f  he  will  punish 
the  vaunt  of  the  arrogance,  the  arrogant  vaunt,  of  the  king 
of  Assyria.  If  there  were  other  reasons  for  thinking 
this  verse  genuine,  the  mention  of  Assyria  would  settle 
the  matter  ;  but  since  the  other  indications  are  to  the 
contrary,  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  name 
Assyria  is  here,  as  in  Ezr.  vi.  22,  applied  to  some  other 
power.  Compare  the  use  of  Babylon  in  Neh.  xiii.  6  and 
Rev.  xiv.  8. 

*  There  are  two  other  facts  pointing  in  the  same  direction;  viz.  that 
these  two  verses  fall  out  of  the  rhythm  of  vv.  5-9;  and  that  the  thought 
contained  in  them  is  not  expressed  with  Isaiah's  clearness  and  succinctness. 

t  The  text  has  ip£K,  I  will  punish,  an  evident  error. 


230  ISAIAH.  [X.  13 

13.  The  Assyrian,  whose  vain-glorious  soliloquy  was 
interrupted  by  vv.  10-12,  is  now  permitted  to  continue. 
With  the  strength  of  my  own  hand,  he  asserts,  have  I 
wrought.  Taken  strictly,  this  utterance  hardly  does 
justice  to  the  supposed  speaker.  The  Assyrian  kings 
were  doubtless  very  proud,  but  they  were  also  very  care- 
ful to  give  to  their  gods  a  share  in  the  credit  of  their 
achievements.  Thus  Sennacherib,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  inscription  in  which  he  recounts  his  campaign  against 
Hezekiah,  calls  himself  "  the  favorite  of  the  gods,"  and 
attributes  the  success  of  his  arms  to  the  favor  of  "  Asshur 
the  great  rock"  (Schrader,  KB,  II.  82  f.).  What  the 
prophet  means  is,  that  the  Assyrian  ignores  Jehovah,  by 
whom,  and  not  by  his  own  gods,  he  is  being  directed. 
(See  Dan.  iv.  30.)  In  his  own  strength  and  wisdom  he 
claims  to  have  removed  *  the  boundaries  of  the  peoples, 
in  accordance  with  the  policy  of  Tiglath-pileser(Ragozin, 
SA,  219  ff.),  by  annexing  conquered  territory,  and  deport- 
ing the  inhabitants  to  other  parts  of  the  empire ;  a  pro- 
ceeding which,  since,  according  to  Deu.  xxxii.  8,  these 
boundaries  were  established  by  Jehovah  himself,  like 
the  removal  of  private  landmarks  (Deu.  xiv.  14),  was  a 
sort  of  sacrilege.  The  parallel  line,  their  treasures  I 
have  plundered,!  is  also  in  character;  for  the  Assyrian 
inscriptions  consist  largely  of  records  of  the  booty  of  all 
sorts  taken  by  the  kings  in  their  campaigns.  Sen- 
nacherib brought  back  from  his  first  expedition,  besides 
gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones  in  great  quantities, 
7200  horses  and  mules,  11,073  asses,  5230  camels,  80,- 
100  beeves,  and  800,600  head  of  small  cattle  (Schrader, 

*  For  TDK"!  read  TDK;.     Comp.  Ges.  §  107,  1,  a;   Dri.  §  84,  a. 
t  On  the  form  TOW,  for  TOW,  see  Ols.  §  254. 


X.  13,  14]  COMMENTS.  231 

KB,  II.  84  f.).  The  remnant  of  the  verse  was  meant  to 
be  a  continuation  of  the  same  subject,  and  the  present 
text  can  be  so  interpreted,  but  the  exact  words  of  Isaiah 
have  not  been  preserved.  It  is  probable  that  the  origi- 
nal was,  I  have  also  brought  down  to  the  earth  cities, 
and  destroyed  their  inhabitants,*  or  its  equivalent.  At 
any  rate,  a  boast  of  this  sort  would  have  been  perfectly 
in  harmony  with  the  practice  of  recording  the  number 
of  cities  taken  and  enemies  slain,  followed  by  the 
Assyrian  kings.  Sennacherib,  e.g.,  in  the  inscription 
already  quoted,  claims,  in  his  first  expedition,  to  have 
taken  seventy-five  fortified  towns  in  Chaldea,  and  four 
hundred  and  twenty  smaller  places  in  their  vicinity  ;  and 
in  another,  describing  his  second  campaign,  he  says  that 
he  slew  "  the  inhabitants  of  Babylon  small  and  great," 
and  "filled  the  streets  of  the  city  with  their  carcasses" 
(Schrader,  KB,  II.  n8f.). 

14.    The  Assyrian  closes  his  risumi  of   his  achieve- 

*  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  corruption  of  the  text.  In  the  first  place, 
there  is  only  one  line,  while  there  ought  to  be  two.  Secondly,  what  there 
is,  is  not  intelligible.  Duhm,  following  a  clue  furnished  by  the  Septuagint, 
suggests  that  the  first  line  must  have  been,  D'ltf  "13iO  TH1K1,  /  also 
caused  to  sink  in  ashes  cities  ;  but,  having  neglected  the  indications  of  the 
text  itself,  he  is  unable  to  restore  the  second.  Now  it  seems  clear,  that, 
if,  as  the  iro\eis  of  the  Septuagint  would  indicate,  the  first  line  contained 
the  word  G*~/D,  cities,  the  D*3t£?V  of  the  second  should  be  rendered,  not 
those  enthroned,  but  inhabitants.  It  seems  natural,  also,  tc  look  for  the 
verb  corresponding  to  TTIX  in  the  form  TDK;  and,  upon  finding  T-K 
used  by  Jeremiah  in  a  precisely  similar  connection  (xlvi.  8),  to  conclude 
that  T'SK'l,  and  I  destroyed,  and  not  "Y-K5,  like  a  bull,  was  the  original 
reading.  Having  reached  this  point,  one  sees  that  another  word  must  be 
inserted  into  the  first  line  and  a  suffix  added  to  the  noun  of  the  second. 
The  result  is  the  Hebrew  of  the  rendering  above  given,  D"HU  JHK?  TH1K1 
DITIHPV  T3K1.  On  TTK1,  comp.  Ges.  §  107,  I,  a;  Dri.  §  84,  a;  on 
T3K1,  see  GesT.  §  68,  2,  R.  1. 


232  ISAIAH.  [X.  14,  15 

ments  with  a  characteristic  illustration.  He  compares 
himself  to  a  hunter.  The  people  were  birds,  and  their 
treasuries  nests  whose  contents,  their  wealth,  he  coveted, 
and,  he  says,  as  one  gathereth  deserted  eggs,  eggs  de- 
serted by  the  frightened  brooders,  have  I  gathered  the 
riches  of  the  whole  earth  ;  nor  was  there  one  that  fluttered 
a  wing  or  opened  his  mouth  and  peeped,  in  protest ;  so 
terrified  were  the  poor,  helpless  victims  of  his  rapacity. 
The  cruelty  of  this  simile  is  only  equalled  by  its  appro- 
priateness ;  but  it  hardly  surpasses  in  either  respect 
figures  used  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions.  Thus,  e.g., 
Sargon  says  that  he  "  hooked  the  Ionians  like  fish  from 
the  midst  of  the  sea  "  (Schrader,  KB,  II.  42  f.) ;  and  Sen- 
nacherib, that  he  "  shut  up  Hezekiah  in  Jerusalem,  his 
capital,  like  a  bird  in  a  cage  "  (id.  94  f.).  How  and  where 
did  Isaiah  become  so  familiar  with  the  Assyrian  style? 
15.  Jehovah  replies,  Doth  the  axe,  a  mere  instrument, 
vaunt  itself  over  him  that  wieldeth  it ;  by  whose  strength 
and  skill  it  is  made  to  do  whatever  it  does  ?  The  idea 
is  ridiculous ;  but  it  is  not  more  so  than  that  any  man, 
however  exalted  his  station,  should  claim  to  be  his  own 
master.  This  is  the  argument.  The  succession  of 
figures  that  follows  is  intended  merely  to  add  to  its 
impressiveness.  The  first  one,  that  of  the  saw,  simply 
forms  a  parallelism  with  the  one  just  quoted.  In  the 
last  two,  which  also  form  a  couplet,  the  idea  of  the  first 
two  is  exaggerated ;  for,  the  rod  is  presented  to  the 
imagination,  not  merely  as  asserting  its  independence, 
but  as  actually  brandishing  him  that  uplifteth  it,*  and 
the  staff  as  uplifting  that  which  is  not  wood,  i.e.,  its 
living,  intelligent  wielder. 

*  For  ra-iO  J1K1  read  Wia  DK. 


X.  16-18]  COMMENTS.  233 

16.  The  power  of  Jehovah  being  thus  established,  it 
remains  to  indicate  how  it  is  to  be  displayed.  A  first 
statement  says  that  he  will  send  into  his,  Assyria's,  fat, 
his  overgrown  prosperity,  a  consumption,  adversity ;  so 
that,  as  the  invalid  loses  his  flesh,  the  nation  shall 
be  stripped  of  its  greatness.  The  completion  of  the 
figure  is  found  in  v.  18,  the  latter  part  of  which 
should  be  transferred  to  this  connection.  See  xvii.  4. 
According  to  a  second  figure,  under  his  glory,  the 
splendor  of  his  greatness,  shall  be  kindled  a  burning, 
a  destroying  agency  ;  which  shall  be  as  fatal  to  that 
greatness  as  the  burning  of  fire  to  the  fuel  by  which  it 
is  fed. 

17.  This  fire  is  not  a  blind,  impersonal  physical 
agency.  It  is  nothing  less  than  Jehovah,  who  will, 
at  the  same  time,  be  the  Light  of  Israel,  cheering  and 
blessing  them  with  his  favor  (ii.  5),  and  a  fire,  bringing 
disaster  and  destruction  to  their  enemies.  The  figure 
is  carried  out  as  in  ix.  17.  The  fire  first  attacks  his 
thorns  and  his  briers,  inflicts  slight  damage.  For  the 
final  phrase,  see  v.  18. 

iS.  At  last,  however,  it  reaches  his  forest  and  orchard, 
the  more  substantial  elements  of  his  greatness ;  and  they 
disappear  in  a  day.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  foreign  to 
this  connection,  being  the  misplaced  development  of 
v.  16  a.     Soul  and  body  means,  completely.* 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  defend  the  changes  made  in  the  text  of  vv.  16- 
18.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  soul .  .  .  wasteth  disturbs  the  connection  in 
which  it  now  stands,  and  that  v.  16  a  is  incomplete  without  it.  Nor  can 
there  be  any  doubt  that  the  phrase  in  a  day  should  be  inserted  after 
orchard,  so  as  to  give  to  the  two  phrases  which  it  now  separates  the  same 
force  as  in  ix.  17/18.  These  changes  having  been  made,  the  verses  ought  to 
be  rearranged  so  that  v.  17  would  begin  with  Also  under,  and  v.  18  with 


234  ISAIAH.  [X.  jg 

19.  The  result  of  the  conflagration  predicted  will  be 
that  the  remaining  trees  of  his  forest  shall  be  so  few  in 
number  that  a  boy  can  write  them :  his  power  will  be 
reduced  almost  to  extinction. 

The  confusion  in  the  text  of  the  last  verses  of  this 
section  weakens  the  impression  that  they  would  other- 
wise produce ;  but,  when  it  has  been  corrected,  one  can- 
not help  feeling  that  they  still  fall  far  short  of  being 
worthy  of  so  forceful  a  writer  as  Isaiah.  Moreover, 
toward  the  last,  one  begins  to  feel  that  the  situation 
implied  in  v.  9  has  been  lost  sight  of,  and  a  different 
one  substituted  for  it.  These  considerations  make  it 
probable,  that,  as  is  held  by  several  recent  critics, 
t'v.  16-19,  and  perhaps  v.  15,  were  not  called  forth  by 
the  exigency  that  Isaiah  had  to  face,  but  by  a  later  con- 
dition of  things  from  which  God's  people  were  thus 
encouraged  to  expect  deliverance.  Probably,  also,  as 
Cheyne  claims  {TBI,  79),  the  conclusion  of  the  original 
prophecy  is  the  fragment  found  in  xiv.  24-27,  the  form 
and  content  of  which  indicate  that  it  belongs  with  the 
Isaianic  portions  of  this  chapter.  The  present  state  of 
the  text  may  be  explained  by  supposing,  that,  after 
Isaiah's  prophecy  had  served  its  immediate  purpose, 
so  much  of  it  as  could  be  used  to  advantage  was 
incorporated  by  a  later  writer  into  one  bearing  upon  a 

and  it  shall  burn;   i.e.,  if  the  division  into  verses  is  to  be  retained.     The 
passage,  thus  rearranged,  would  read  as  follows : 

16  Therefore  will  the  Lord  send  into  his  fat  a  consumption;  soul  and  body 
shall  it  destroy,  and  it  shall  be  as  when  a  sick  man  wasteth.  n  Also  under 
his  glory  shall  be  kindled  a  burning  like  the  burning  of  fire;  yea,  the  Light 
of  Israel  will  be  a  fire,  and  their  Holy  One  a  flame;  1Band  it  shall  burn  and 
devour  his  thorns  and  his  briers,  also  the  glory  of  his  forest  and  orchard,  in 
a  day. 


X.  ig-22]  COMMENTS.  235 

similar  situation,  and  the  rest  left  to  stand  as  a  separate 
utterance.  What  the  new  situation  was  will  become 
clear  in  the  paragraph  that  follows. 

(e)  The  Liberation  of  the  Remnant  (vv.  20-27)  —  is  the 
subject  of  this  third  section.  It  is  wholly  in  the  inferior 
style  of  the  last  four  verses  of  the  preceding. 

20.  The  remnant,  therefore,  cannot  be  the  survivors 
of  an  Assyrian  invasion,  but  must  be  they  that  escape 
from  the  later  situation  with  which  the  remodelled 
prophecy  has  to  do.  The  character  of  this  remnant  is 
first  described.  They  shall  no  longer,  as  the  nation, 
notably  in  the  case  of  Ahaz'  appeal  to  Assyria  (2  Chr. 
xxviii.  20),  had  done,  lean  upon  their  smiter,  a  helper 
who  will  finally  do  them  more  harm  than  good,  in  short, 
any  human  ally ;  but  shall  lean  upon  Jehovah,  who  was 
himself  the  smiter  in  ix.  12,  faithfully,  fully  and  forever. 

21.  Will,  then,  the  writer  seems  to  ask  himself,  or 
imagine  somebody  asking  him,  the  people  be  saved  ? 
He  replies  by  quoting  the  promise  contained  in  the 
name  of  Isaiah's  eldest  son,  A  remnant  shall  return ; 
adding,  by  way  of  interpretation,  to  Mighty-lord,  the 
head  of  the  restored  nation  (ix.  5),  and  vice-gerent  of 
the  Almighty  (Hos.  iii.  5).     Comp.  Orelli. 

22.  A  second  promise  occurs  to  the  writer,  —  the  one 
given  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xxii.  17),  repeated  to  Jacob 
(Gen.  xxxii.  12),  and  quoted,  as  a  stimulus  to  faith,  Hos. 
ii.  1  (i.  10);*  and  he  quotes  it  in  support  of  the  first 
one.  Surely,  he  says,  if,  as  Jehovah  promised  our 
fathers,  thy  people,  0  Israel !  are  to  be  as  the  sand  of  the 

*  Hos.  ii.  1-3  (i.  10— ii.  1)  is  probably,  as  recent  critics  claim,  an  inter- 
polation (Giesebrecht,  BJ,  212  ff.),  but  its  date  is  immaterial  in  this 
connection. 


236  ISAIAH.  [X.  22-24 

ssa  for  multitude,  —  and  who  can  doubt  that  the  promise 
is  to  be  fulfilled  ?  —  a  remnant  thereof  shall,  must  neces- 
sarily, return.*  If,  now,  the  verse,  thus  far,  is  not  a 
threat,  but  a  promise,  the  rest  of  it  cannot  refer  to 
Israel,  but  must  be  interpreted  as  an  announcement  of 
judgment  upon  their  enemies.  Their  Destruction  is  de- 
creed ;  onrushing  against  them  is  the  retributive  right- 
eousness of  Jehovah. | 

23.  The  last  statement,  also,  is  fortified  by  a  quota- 
tion. This  time,  however,  it  is  a  passage,  slightly  modi- 
fied, from  one  of  Isaiah's  prophecies  (xxviii.  22),  to 
which  there  are  allusions  in  the  book  of  Daniel  (ix. 
26  f. ;  xi.  36).  The  passage,  in  its  original  connection, 
was  a  threat  launched  at  the  drunken  rulers  of  Judah. 
Here  it  becomes  a  prediction  of  the  fate,  —  destruction, 
already  ordained,  —  of  the  enemies  of  the  chosen  peo- 
ple, and,  indeed,  of  the  whole  earth,  the  entire  heathen 
world.  % 

24.  In  view  of  this  decree,  Jehovah  encourages  his 
people  that  dwell  in  Zion  not  to  fear  Assyria.  Here 
are  two  expressions  that  might  be  interpreted  as  betray- 

*  The  usual  interpretation  introduces  into  the  text  an  only  for  which 
there  is  no  warrant,  and  thus  destroys  the  connection  between  this  and 
the  following  verse. 

t  This  is  the  natural  rendering.  The  order  of  the  words  in  the  first  part 
is  reversed  in  the  second  for  the  sake  of  variety;  as  often  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament (Prv.  iii.  16).  One  is  tempted  to  translate  fHn,  active.  On  spittP 
and  its  meaning,  see  Jer.  viii.  6;  and  on  np*"ilk,  Isa.  v.  16.  Comp.  De- 
litzsch. 

\  This  final  phrase,  from  which,  by  the  way,  v3,  whole,  is  omitted  in 
some  codices,  is  an  indication  of  lateness  of  date.  The  appearance  of  its 
equivalent  in  xxviii.  22  cannot  be  cited  in  proof  of  the  contrary,  since 
the  y~Hn  72  7U,  upon  the  whole  earth,  of  that  passage  is  clearly  an  inter- 
polation.    See  Duhm. 


X.  24,  25]  COMMENTS.  237 

ing  the  hand  of  Isaiah.  There  is,  however,  the  same 
reason  for  caution  in  this  instance  as  in  the  case  of 
v.  12.  Here,  too,  the  style  is  too  prosaic  to  be  Isaiah's. 
The  reference  to  Egypt,  also,  is  significant ;  for  all  the 
passages,  outside  of  this  chapter,  in  which  there  are 
reminiscences  of  the  Exodus,  are  of  Exilic  or  post-Ex- 
ilic origin.  See  iv.  5;  xi.  15;  but  especially  xliii.  16; 
xlviii.  21;  li.  10;  lxiii.  n.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  is 
safest  to  conclude  that  Assyria  is  here,  as  in  v.  12,  a 
symbolic  term  ;  and  that  the  phrase,  that  dwell  in  Zion, 
indicates  the  post-Exilic  origin  of  the  passage.  When 
it  was  written  the  Jews  were  suffering  from  the  cruelty 
of  their  masters,  probably  the  Persians ;  but  they  are 
exhorted  not  to  lose  heart  though  the  rod  and  the  staff 
be  uplifted  against  them  after  the  manner  of  Egypt; 
though  they  be  treated  with  the  same  severity  as  were 
their  forefathers  by  the  Egyptians  (Ex.  i.  13  f .). 

25.  They  are  further  encouraged  by  being  assured 
that  it  will  be  but  a  brief  moment,  a  very  short  time, 
before  Jehovah's  vengeance,*  not  upon  his  own  people, 
as  v.  5  has  led  many  exegetes  to  suppose  (Delitzsch), 
but,  as  the  context  and  such  parallel  passages  as  Eze. 
v.  13  require,  upon  their  oppressors  (see  also  Eze.  vii. 
8;  xx.  8,  21  ;  Dan.  xi.  36),  shall  be  completed.  The 
last  clause  of  the  verse  is  a  repetition  of  the  promise.! 

*  For  DUT,  vengeance,  read,  with  Lovvth,  "fitfT,  my  vengeance. 

t  The  text  has  EITTCri  7U  "SSI,  lit.  and  my  anger  upon  their  ruin; 
which  is  interpreted  as  meaning  that  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  will  be  directed 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Assyrians;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  clause  will 
bear  this  interpretation.  Luzzatto,  dividing  the  last  word  into  DfT  TCP, 
renders  the  whole,  and  my  anger  against  the  world,  the  nations  oppressed 
by  Assyria,  shall  cease.  Delitzsch  suggests  that  a  better  rendering  of  such 
a  text  would  be,  and  my  anger  against  the  world,  the  sinful  world  repre- 


238  ISAIAH.  [X.  26,  27 

26.  The  final  stimulus  to  faith  is  an  appeal  to  history. 
Jehovah  (the  third  person)  will  brandish  over  the  op- 
pressor a  scourge,  and  smite  him  as  when  Midian  (ix. 
3/4)  were  smitten  by  the  Ephraimites  at  the  rock  Oreb 
( Jud.  vii.  25).  He  will  again  manifest  the  power,  which, 
when  Moses  extended  his  staff  over  the  sea,  wrought 
the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh's  host  (Ex.  xiv.  26);  and  thus 
punish  Egyptian  cruelty  (v.  24)  after  the  manner  of 
Egypt.* 

27.  Thus  his  burden,  the  oppressive  exactions  now  en- 
dured, shall  be  removed  .  .  .  and  his  yoke,  subjection  to 
his  will  and  authority,  broken. t     See  ix.  3/4;  xiv.  25. 

(d)  The  Decisive  Hour{yv.  28-34).  — The  final  section 
pictures  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  deliverance. 
It  consists  of  a  dramatic  fragment  of  a  genuine  proph- 
ecy, to  which  are  added  a  few  lines  containing  a  varia- 
tion, by  the  editor,  upon  the  figure  of  vv.  18  f. 

The  fragment  by  Isaiah  begins  with  the  abrupt  and 
startling  announcement,  He  hath  come  up  into  Benja- 
min \%     The  subject  is  the  Assyrian  invader.     He  is 

sented  by  Assyria,  shall  be  fulfilled ;  but  he  does  not  adopt  the  emendation. 
The  following  expresses  even  more  closely  than  Luzzatto's  text  the  thought 
that  must  have  been  in  the  mind  of  the  writer:  Wv3n  bv2'  ,£X",  and 
my  anger  shall  accomplish  his  ruin.  The  first  change  is  the  restoration 
of  two  letters  that  would  easily  be  omitted  by  a  scribe ;  the  second,  the 
correction  of  a  suffix  to  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the  context.  For  a 
similar  expression,  see  Ps.  lxxiv.  12. 

*  For  llftMl  D'H  717  IHtitt,  lit.  and  his  staff  over  the  sea  and  he  shall  tip- 
lift  it,  Winclder,  AU,  1 76  f.,  suggests  REP  DiT^C  1!"IB&,  his  staff  over  them 
shall  he  uplift.     See  v.  24. 

f  For  72PI1,  and  shall  be  broken,  read,  with  Duhm,  7— IT,  shall  be  broken. 
WRSmith  {Jour.  Phil.  1884,  62  f.)  prefers  bin",  shall  cease.  For  the  last 
three  words  of  the  text,  see  the  next  section. 

J  The  text  has  ]tt2  "SQ  717,  yoke  on  account  of  fat.     The  preceding 


X.  27,  28]  COMMENTS.  239 

moving  from  the  less  elevated  region  of  central  Palestine 
into  the  highlands  occupied  by  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
which,  with  the  tribe  of  Judah,  constituted  the  kingdom 
of  Judah  ;  in  other  words,  he  is  invading  Judah. 

28.  His  route  from  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  capital  is  described.  He  first  comes  to 
Ayyath,  or  Ai,  near  Bethel  (Gen.  xii.  8),  the  first  town 
in  the  interior  of  western  Palestine  captured  by  Joshua 
(Jos.  viii.  1  ff.).  He  destroyed  it,  and,  when  Jos.  viii.  29 
was  written,  it  remained  deserted.  It  had  now  been  re- 
built, perhaps  fortified  for  the  protection  of  the  northern 
border  of  the  kingdom.  The  location  of  the  city  is  dis- 
puted.    Robinson  {BRP,  II.  312  f.)  favors  a  site  in  the 

word  t1— m,  shall  be  broken,  is  generally  connected  with  this  phrase,  but 
it  is  needed  to  complete  the  line  preceding.  Moreover,  another  line  is 
wanted,  not  at  the  end  of  v.  27,  where  it  would  be  redundant,  but  at  the 
beginning  of  v.  28,  where  there  is  a  fellow  for  it.  Now  it  is  plain  that  the 
phrase  quoted  cannot,  in  its  present  form,  have  any  reference  to  what  fol- 
lows. It  is,  therefore,  without  doubt,  corrupt;  and  a  better  reading  must 
be  found  if  possible.  No  help  is  to  be  got  from  the  versions.  Hence 
critics  have  been  forced  to  resort  to  conjecture.  WRSmith  {/our.  Phil. 
1884,  62  f.)  suggests  that  the  text  be  amended  to  read  TTtP  [1B2K3  n70, 
There  hath  come  tip  from  the  north  a  destroyer,  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
first  word  is  correct;  but  the  other  two  find  so  little  support  in  the  recog- 
nized writings  of  Isaiah,  that  they  can  hardly  be  considered  a  satisfactory 
solution  of  the  problem.  Duhm  substitutes  for  them  Jlttl  "BE,  from  Pene- 
rimmon,  or  from  before  Rimmon.  To  this  it  may  reasonably  be  objected, 
not  only  that  it  leaves  the  movement  without  a  starting-point  (Skinner), 
but  that  one  could  hardly  speak  of  going  up  from  Rimmon,  which  was 
situated  on  a  conspicuous  eminence  (Robinson,  BRP,  I.  440,  III.  290), 
to  Ayyath.  The  reading  above  adopted,  j'E'JB  .""HI?,  seems  less  objection- 
able. In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  too  unlike  the  present  text.  Secondly, 
it  furnishes  the  name  that  would  most  naturally  head  such  a  list  as  is  given 
in  this  passage.  Finally,  it  is  favored  by  the  fact  that  Benjamin  actually 
occurs  in  a  passage  in  Hosea  (v.  8)  so  similar  that  it  may  well  have  sug- 
gested this  one. 


240  ISAIAH.  [X.  28,  29 

neighborhood  of  Kudeirah,  just  south  of  Deir  Diwan ; 
but  van  de  Velde  (SP,  II.  278)  prefers  Tell  el-Chajar,  a 
little  north  of  the  same  village,  and  this  seems  to  be  the 
more  reliable  identification.  The  next  place  is  Migron, 
probably  the  modern  Makrun,  a  ruined  village  south  of 
Deir  Diwan,  on  the  way  to  Mikmash,  now  Mukmas, 
just  north  of  Wady  Suweinit,  a  deep  valley  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
13)  which  begins  at  el-Bireh  (Beeroth)  and  runs  into 
that  of  the  Jordan. 

29.  Here  the  Assyrian  is  represented  as  depositing 
his  baggage,  his  heavy  stores  and  surplus  munitions ;  as 
well  he  might,  before  attempting  the  rough  task  of 
getting  his  army  over  the  passage  through  the  valley 
just  described  to  Geba,  now  Jeba,  on  the  opposite  side 
(1  Sam.  xiv.  5),  which  Asa  fortified  (1  Kgs.  xv.  22),  and 
which,  in  the  time  of  Josiah,  marked  the  northern  fron- 
tier of  Judah  (2  Kgs.  xxiii.  8).  Here,  about  five  miles 
from  Jerusalem,  his  army  makes  its  bivouac.  With 
break  of  day  he  is  again  astir.  Meanwhile  the  people 
in  his  front  are  smitten  with  dismay.  Ramah  trembleth. 
Several  places  bearing  this  name  are  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament.  This  is  the  one  usually  designated  as 
Ramah  of  Benjamin.  Whether  it  is  the  same  with  that 
where  Samuel  lived  and  died  is  disputed.  The  trend  of 
opinion  seems  to  be  toward  the  negative.  See  Conder, 
TW,  II.  116;  Riehm,  NBA,  art.  Rama.  The  one  here 
meant,  now  er-Ram,  was  situated  on  a  high  hill,  near 
another  road  to  Jerusalem,  about  two  miles  west  of 
Geba.  Nevertheless,  its  inhabitants  quaked,  when  they 
saw  the  Assyrians  in  motion.  They  of  Gibea  of  Saul, 
now  Tuleil  el-Ful,  although  they  too  were  off  the  direct 
route,  in  their  terror  left  their  little  city  and  fled. 


X.  30-32]  COMMENTS.  241 

30.  Gibea  was  a  little  more  than  two  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem. Gallim  and  Laish  must  have  been  in  the  vicinity, 
and,  since  the  cries  of  the  former  could  be  heard  at  the 
latter,  near  each  other ;  but  their  sites  have  not  yet  been 
recovered.* 

Anathoth,  a  priestly  city  (Jos.  xxi.  18;  2  Kgs.  ii.  26), 
the  home  of  Jeremiah  (Jer.  i.  1),  now  Anata,  lay  on  the 
direct  route  of  the  Assyrians,  about  half-way  between 
Geba  and  Jerusalem.  See  Geikie,  HLB,  II.  159L  It 
is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  it  fainteth,f  helpless  with 
terror.  31.  Madmenah,  according  to  Valentiner  (ZDMG, 
xii.  169)  is  to  be  identified  with  Shafat,  about  two  miles 
west  of  Anathoth.  Its  inhabitants  flee,  not  knowing 
whither,  while  those  of  Gebim,  whose  site  is  unknown, 
hurry  away  their  cattle,  just  as  the  Hebrews  were  in- 
structed to  do  on  the  eve  of  the  Exodus  (Ex.  ix.  19). 

32.  The  prophet  sees  the  goal  reached,  this  very  day 
he  will  halt,  take  a  position,  at  Nob,  a  priestly  city,, 
where  the  tabernacle  for  some  time  stood  (1  Sam.  xxi. 

*  The  former  is  mentioned  also  I  Sam.  xxv.  44.  The  name  Laish  oc- 
curs in  the  same  passage,  but  as  that  of  a  person  instead  of  a  place.  So, 
also,  2  Sam.  iii.  15. 

f  The  text  has  TT1VI,  which  has  been  taken  as  an  attributive  (Alexan- 
der), or  an  appositive  (Delitzsch),  of  the  noun  following,  or  a  proper 
name,  the  IT331?  of  Neh.  xi.  32  and  the  Bethany  of  the  New  Testament 
(Henderson);  but  the  later  exegetes,  following  the  Peshita,  generally  pre- 
fer to  read  JT3S?,  answer  her.  This  would  do,  if  the  division  between  vv. 
30  and  31  were  correct.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  line  to  which  this  word 
belongs  makes  a  couplet,  not  with  the  one  that  precedes,  but  the  one  that 
follows  it.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  more  probable  that  the  sentence  was 
a  declaration,  than  that  it  was  an  exhortation.  On  the  other  hand  the 
adjective  afflicted  does  not  seem  perfectly  to  fit  the  connection.  The  word 
needed  is  the  H30  of  xxxi.  4,  and  the  form,  the  3d  sing,  fern.,  TH1ND,  which 
may  be  rendered  cower  eth,  or,  for  the  sake  of  assonance,  as  above,  fainteth. 


242  ISAIAH.  [X.  32-XI.  1 

i  ff.).  It  must  have  been  very  near  Jerusalem ;  other- 
wise the  prophet  would  not  have  thought  of  it  as  the 
base  of  the  invader's  operations  against  the  city.  It  was 
probably  on  Mt.  Scopus,  the  ridge,  about  two  miles  dis- 
tant, that  commands  it  on  the  north.  From  this  point, 
looking  down  upon  it,  he  will  shake  his  hand  against, 
threaten,  the  mount  of  Zion  the  fair,*  i.e.,  as  is  explained 
in  the  final  clause,  the  hill,  or  cluster  of  hills,  of  Jerusa- 
lem. On  the  view  from  this  point,  see  Geikie,  HLB, 
II.  I56f. 

23.  The  Assyrian  against  the  northern  horizon  recalls 
the  figure  of  the  forest.  This  time,  however,  it  is  not 
to  be  destroyed  by  fire,  but  Jehovah  will  lop  the  foliage 
with  which  it  is  decked  with  a  crash  (lit.  terror) ;  f  and 
the  lofty  in  stature,  the  towering  trunks,  shall  be  felled. 

34.  Thus  shall  this  Lebanon,  with  all  its  glory,  fall  by 
a  more  glorious  one  than  he,  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  Lord. 

The  overthrow  of  the  old  is  but  a  preparation  for  the 
establishment  of 

(3)  A  New  Order  (xi.-xii.). — This  was  the  teaching 
of  Isaiah  in  ix.  1/2  ff.:  it  is  now  repeated.  Moreover, 
as  in  the  prophecy  quoted,  so  here,  the  new  order  of 
things  takes  the  form  of 

(a)  An  Ideal  Kingdom  (xi.  1-10).  —  Here,  however, 
the  prophet's  idea  is  more  fully  developed  than  it  was 
when  first  imparted  to  his  disciples.     In  the  first  place, 

a.  the  inspired  king  ivv.  1-5)  —  is  portrayed  in  his 
character  as  well  as  in  his  achievements.     1.    He  is  to 

*  The  text,  doubtless  through  a  scribal  error,  has  rV3,  house. 
t  For  m^l'D  Duhm  reads  13H7D,  axe;  but  the  introduction  of  the  in- 
strument at  this  point  weakens  the  figure. 


XI.  1,2]  COMMENTS.  243 

be  a  shoot  from  the  stump  of  Jesse.  The  mention  of 
Jesse  in  this  connection  has  sometimes  been  supposed 
to  contain  a  prediction,  that,  before  the  appearance  of 
the  promised  ruler,  the  royal  family  of  Judah  would  be 
reduced  to  the  rank  to  which  Jesse  belonged  when  his 
son  was  chosen  to  succeed  Saul  (Calvin);  but  it  has  no 
such  significance.  Like  the  reference  to  Bethlehem  in 
Mic.  v.  2,  it  means  simply  that  the  future  king  is  to  be 
"  of  the  house  and  lineage  of  David  "  (Luk.  ii.  4).  The 
comparison  of  the  dynasty  to  a  stump,  however,  indi- 
cates that  Isaiah  expected  it  to  lose  the  remnant  of  its 
glory  preserved  by  Ahaz,  perhaps  to  be  as  nearly 
destroyed  as  it  was  by  the  wicked  queen  Athaliah 
(2  Kgs.  xi.  1  f.).  But  the  promised  shoot,  or,  as  he  is 
called  in  the  second  line,  sprout,  shall  bear  fruit,  restore 
to  the  royal  house  its  lost  vigor  and  regain  its  original 
power  (ix.  6/7). 

2.  The  secret  of  his  success  is,  that  there  shall  rest 
on  him  the  spirit  of  Jehovah,  the  source  of  all  excellence 
in  human  character  and  achievement.  This  spirit  has 
diverse  operations  (1  Cor.  xii.  6);  in  this  case  in  the 
same  person.  It  is,  first  of  all,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
insight,  the  source  of  the  ability  to  discover  the  things 
which  it  is  necessary  for  a  successful  ruler  to  know. 
Such  a  gift  was  bestowed  upon  Moses,  and  the  elders 
appointed  to  assist  him  in  the  government  of  his  people 
(Num.  xi.  17).  The  same  gift  was  possessed  by  David 
(2  Sam.  xiv.  20)  and  Solomon  (1  Kgs.  iii.  12).  See, 
also,  the  cases  of  Joseph  (Gen.  xl.  38)  and  Daniel  (Dan. 
iv.  8  f.).  It  will  procure  for  its  possessor  the  title 
"Wondrous-counsellor"  (ix.  5/6).  The  same  spirit  will 
manifest  itself  as  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  might,  i.e., 


24+  ISAIAH.  [XI.  2-4 

the  source  of  the  wisdom  for  planning  enterprises  and 
the  power  to  carry  them  into  effect.  These  fruits  of  the 
spirit  appear  in  the  cases  of  Gideon  (Jud.  vi.  24),  Saul 
(1  Sam.  xi.  6),  and  David  (1  Sam.  xvi.  13).  In  the  new 
David  they  will  be  so  abundant,  that,  as  be.  5/6  has  it, 
men  will  call  him  "  Mighty-lord,"  etc.  There  follows 
another  pair  of  characteristics  to  which  there  is  nothing 
in  the  previous  prophecy  to  correspond,  the  knowledge 
and  the  fear  of  Jehovah.  They  are  the  most  important 
that  have  been  mentioned,  for  they  furnish  a  guarantee 
that  the  others  will  not  be  misused.  Being,  through  the 
spirit,  made  acquainted  with  Jehovah  and  rendered  sub- 
missive to  his  will,  the  coming  ruler  can  never,  like 
Samson  or  Solomon,  use  his  strength  or  wisdom  for 
unworthy  ends,  but  must  always  employ  them  for  the 
realization  of  the  highest  ideals ;  in  other  words,  he  will 
be  a  perfect  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Jehovah  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  purpose  to  make  of  Israel  "  a 
great  nation." 

3.  The  knowledge  and  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  then,  are 
not  mere  sentiments,  but  practical  qualities.  This  is 
made  perfectly  clear  by  the  fact  that  the  rest  of  the 
paragraph  is  devoted  to  a  description  of  a  brilliant,  but 
righteous  government,*  he  shall  not  judge  according  to 
the  sight  of  his  eyes,  from  appearances,  or  the  hearing 
of  his  ears,  the  testimony  of  others ; 

4.  but,  being  gifted  with  extraordinary  insight  (2  Sam. 

*  The  declaration,  his  delight,  also,  shall  be  in  the  fear  of  Jehovah, 
must  be  excepted.  It  describes  a  pure  sentiment.  This  fact,  alone,  makes 
its  genuineness  doubtful;  but  when  one  notices,  also,  that  it  makes  an 
odd  line,  easily  explained  (Bickell)  as  a  dittograph  of  the  last  words  of 
the  preceding  verse,  its  ungenuineness  seems  established. 


XI.  4-6]  COMMENTS.  245 

xiv.  20;  I  Kgs.  iii.  9),  and  thus  being  able  to  discern 
the  truth,  in  spite  of  the  attempts  of  their  enemies  to 
conceal  it,  in  righteousness  shall  he  judge  those  who 
were  oftenest  the  victims  of  injustice,  the  lowly,  not  of 
the  earth,  —  Isaiah's  vision  is  not  so  wide  as  that, — 
but  of  the  land,  his  kingdom.  Comp.  Henderson.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  shall  smite  the  violent,*  the  op- 
pressors of  the  weak,  with  the  rod  of  his  mouth,  by  a 
word  bring  about  their  punishment,  perhaps  without 
the  intervention  of  an  executioner.  See  Hos.  vi.  5  ; 
Acts  v.  5  ;  comp.  Zee.  ix.  10. 

5.  The  description  closes  with  the  figurative  state- 
ment that  righteousness  .  .  .  and  faithfulness,  or  un- 
changing righteousness,  shall  be  the  cincture  t  of  his 
reins  ;  i.e.,  just  as  the  girdle  completes  one's  dress,  and, 
when  tightened,  prepares  one  for  action,  so  shall  right- 
eousness, the  fear  of  Jehovah  in  action,  hold  all  his  other 
qualities  in  their  just  relations,  and  fit  him  for  the  high- 
est possible  efficiency  in  his  divinely  appointed  office. 

The  child  of  ix.  5/6  at  last  receives  the  title  Prince-of- 
peace.  So  here,  when  the  shoot  of  Jesse  has  delivered 
his  country  and  destroyed  its  enemies,  begins 

j3.  the  reign  of  peace  {vv.  6-10).  —  6.  The  peace- 
fulness  of  the  new  era  is  illustrated  by  a  number  of  con- 
crete examples.     Then  shall  the  wolf,  one  of  the  worst 

*  The  text  has  pK,  the  land,  which  does  not  express  the  evident 
thought  of  the  author.  It  is  expressed  by  the  word  J^HU,  the  violent, 
which,  moreover,  occurs  several  times  as  a  synonym  of  the  term  godless. 
See  Jer.  xv.  21.  It  is  safe,  therefore,  to  conclude,  with  Krochmal,  that 
this  was  the  original  reading.     Comp.  Delitzsch. 

fin  the  text  "VHK,  girdle,  occurs  twice.  It  is  probable,  as  Duhm  sug- 
gests, that  originally  the  synonym  "lljsn  was  used  in  one  line  or  the  other. 


246  ISAIAH.  [XI.  6,  7 

enemies  of  the  shepherd,  because  it  usually  attacks  his 
flock  at  night  (Tristram,  NHB,  153),  rest,  lie  peaceably, 
with  the  lamb  ;  and  the  leopard,  still  common  in  Pales- 
tine, an  even  more  dangerous  animal  than  the  wolf, 
lying  in  wait  for  its  prey  and  fighting  for  it,  when  neces- 
sary, with  great  fierceness  (Tristram,  NHB,  112),  lie 
down  with  the  kid,  heretofore  so  often  its  victim.  In 
these  two  pairs  the  wild  animal  is  mentioned  first,  as  if 
the  prophet  wished  to  emphasize  the  loss  of  its  natural 
fierceness ;  in  the  other  two  the  disappearance  of  the 
natural  timidity  of  the  tame  animals  seems  to  be  made 
prominent  by  reversing  the  order.  The  third  pair  are 
the  calf  and  the  young  lion.  The  lion  has  now  disap- 
peared from  Palestine ;  but  it  was  formerly  common 
(Jud.  xiv.  5  ;  2  Kgs.  xvii.  25  f.),  and  it  remained  in  some 
localities  as  late  as  the  twelfth  century  (Tristram,  NHB, 
115  ff.).  Its  destructiveness  to  cattle  is  repeatedly  re- 
ferred to  (xxxi.  4;  1  Sam.  xvii.  34;  Am.  iii.  12).  Its 
nature  is  to  be  so  changed  that  the  calf  will  no  longer 
fear  it,  but  the  two  will  quietly  fatten  *  together.  In 
that  day  men  like  David  and  Amos  will  not  be  needed 
to  protect  the  animals  from  one  another :  it  will  be  sport 
for  a  little  child  to  lead  them. 

7.  A  fourth  illustration  is  added.  The  animals  are 
The  cow  and  the  bear.  The  latter  is  not  very  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament ;  but  it  was  reckoned 

*  The  text  has  X'lftl,  and  fatting,  but  this  can  hardly  be  correct.  The 
line,  like  the  two  preceding,  should  have  a  verb  and  only  two  nouns.  In 
the  Septuagint  it  is  so  constructed.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  this  was 
the  original  construction  in  Hebrew.  The  only  difficulty  is  in  determining 
the  precise  verb  that  was  used.  Wellhausen,  following  the  Septuagint, 
suggests  O'tfl,  feed,  but  there  is  more  to  be  said  for  IX'^  (Duhm)  or 
IKIO"1  (Buhl),  either  of  which  might  mean  fatten.     See  I  Sam.  ii.  29. 


XI.  7,  8]  COMMENTS.  247 

among  the  enemies  of  the  shepherd  (i  Sam.  xvii.  34  ff.). 
It  is  now  rare  in  Palestine,  except  in  the  region  of 
Mt.  Hermon  (Tristram,  NHB,  46  ff.).  These  two  are 
to  company,*  live  together  in  harmony ;  together  shall 
their  young  lie  down,  as  calves  and  cubs  do  while  their 
mothers  are  feeding  about  them.f 

8.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  serpent,  to  the  Hebrew  the 
most  repulsive  and  malicious  of  all  God's  creatures,  is 
to  become  the  harmless  plaything  of  its  hitherto  in- 
voluntary enemy,  the  babe  shall  delight  in,  perhaps 
crow  over,  the  glittering,  and,  according  to  the  ancients, 
paralyzing  eye  %  of  the  asp,  or,  perhaps,  as  Tristram 
(AHB,  270  f.)  inclines  to  think,  the  cobra,  the  species 
of  serpent  most  frequently  used  by  charmers ;  and 
toward  the  viper's  (Tristram,  NHB,  27s  f-)  sparkling 
pupil  (Prv.  xv.  30)  shall  the  child,  as  children  naturally 
do,  when  they  see  anything  attractive,  with  impunity 
stretch  its  hand. 

*  For  Wmn,  feed,  read,  with  Lagarde,  nriJ^Pn,  as  in  Prv.  xxii.  24, 
where  it  is  rendered  make  friends.  This  change  makes  the  addition  of 
another  V1IT,  together  (Lowth),  unnecessary. 

t  The  text  has  an  additional  line,  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like 
Oxen.  It  cannot,  however,  belong  here.  (1)  It  has  no  place  in  the  rhyth- 
mical scheme  of  the  prophecy,  being,  like  the  first  line  of  v.  3,  without  a 
mate  with  which  to  form  a  distich.  (2)  It  brings  back  an  animal  that  has 
already  been  disposed  of.  (3)  It  produces  confusion  in  the  thought  of 
the  paragraph.  In  all  the  rest  of  w.  6-8,  as  one  would  expect,  it  is  a 
change  in  the  disposition  of  the  animals  mentioned  that  is  predicted;  here 
it  is  a  change  of  habit,  involved,  perhaps,  in  the  preceding  statements,  but 
beyond  the  prophet's  present  purpose.  In  lxv.  25,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
creates  no  particular  difficulty.     Hence  that  is  probably  its  original  setting. 

\  The  word  ?ri  literally  means  hole,  but  the  use  of  it  in  Can.  v.  4  in 
the  sense  of  window,  and  the  occurrence  of  a  word  for  eye  in  the  next 
line,  seem  to  warrant  one  in  concluding  that  here  it  denotes  the  opening 
through  which  the  animal  looks. 


24S  ISAIAH.  [XI.  9 

9.  It  is  evident,  that,  while  painting  this  picture,  the 
author  of  it  had  in  mind  the  ideal  conditions  under 
which  another  equally  gifted  writer  depicted  the  race 
as  beginning  its  existence  (Gen.  ii.  18).  The  teaching 
of  the  passage,  therefore,  is,  that,  as  in  Eden,  so  under 
the  reign  of  the  king  of  the  future,  the  animals  will  be 
what  they  were  intended  to  be,  one  and  all  the  harm- 
less and  docile  companions  of  man.  Comp.  Henry. 
If,  however,  the  animals  are  to  be  so  changed,  will  the 
new  regime  have  j.  less  happy  effect  upon  the  restored 
nation  ?  The  question  does  not  require  an  answer ;  but 
one,  whether  by  Isaiah,  or  some  later  seer,  it  is  difficult 
to  determine,  is  given.*  They,  probably  the  people,  shall 
not  hurt  (2  Sam.  xx.  6)  nor  destroy  one  another,  in  all 
my  holy  highlands,  i.e.,  as  the  parallel  line  shows,  Ca- 
naan. Before  its  occupation  by  the  Hebrews  it  is  desig- 
nated "the  highlands  of  the  Amorites  "  (Deu.  i.  7),  and 
later,  "the  highlands  of  Judah  and  .  .  .  Israel"  (Jos. 
xi.  21).  It  is  here  called  holy  because  it  has  been 
chosen  by  Jehovah  for  his  servants  and  worshippers. 
See  Jer.  xxxi.  23  ;  comp.  Alexander.  The  reason  for 
this  blissful  state  of  things  is  given :  the  land  through 
the  agency  of  the  same  spirit  by  which  its  ruler  is  in- 
spired, shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  Jehovah  as 
completely  as  the  water  covereth  the  bed  of  the  Sea. 

*  Cheyne  thinks  the  conclusion  that  this  verse  is  of  late  origin  irresist- 
ible, but  none  of  his  arguments  seems  so  decisive.  He  exaggerates  the 
difference  in  rhythm  between  this  and  the  preceding  verses;  and,  in  arguing 
for  the  lateness  of  the  phrase  my  holy  mountain,  overlooks  the  fact,  that 
in  this  case  it  is  modified  by  all,  and  that  therefore  most  of  the  passages 
cited  by  him  are  beside  the  point.  Duhm  seems  much  more  convincing. 
It  certainly  is  not  perfectly  apparent  who  or  what  are  not  to  do  evil; 
moreover,  the  word  my  sounds  strangely  in  the  connection. 


XI.  io,  n]  COMMENTS.  249 

All,  without  exception,  by  obedience  to  his  precepts, 
will  recognize  Jehovah  as  their  God,  and  the  effect  of 
this  their  righteousness  will  be  peace  and  security  for- 
ever (xxxii.  17). 

10.  The  final  touch  was  not  given  to  this  picture  by 
Isaiah.  He  did  not  see  the  entire  breadth  of  Jehovah's 
purpose ;  but,  when  his  prophecy  had  done  its  work  in 
sustaining  the  faith  of  his  people  during  the  Assyrian 
crisis,  and  had  long  been  cherished  as  a  proof  of  the 
divine  faithfulness,  some  one  whose  heart  Jehovah  had 
touched  boldly  read  into  it  another  promise  of  deliver- 
ance, and  supplemented  it  with  the  declaration,  that  the 
restoration  of  Israel  would  be  the  prelude  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world.  He  boasts  that  the  root  of  Jesse  is  to 
become  a  signal  to  the  nations ;  so  that,  as  a  tall  tree 
growing  on  a  hill  becomes  a  landmark  and  a  rallying- 
point  for  the  surrounding  country,  the  future  ruler  will 
attract  the  peoples,  and  they  shall  come  to  him  for  in- 
struction in  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  (ii.  2f.); 
and  his  abode,  Jerusalem,  enriched  by  their  treasures  as 
it  was  not  even  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  shall  be  glori- 
ous.    See  1  Kgs.  x.  1  ff . ;  Isa.  lx.  5  ff.* 

(b)  The  Restoration  of  the  Outcast  (xi.  11-16)  —  was 
another  article  in  the  faith  of  Exilic  and  post-Exilic 
times.  It  is  the  subject  of  a  second  supplement  to 
the  original  prophecy. 

11.  The  section  is  introduced  by  the  same  phrase  as 
the  preceding  verse,  in  that  day.  It  is  the  day  when 
Jehovah,  having  driven  his  people  of  both  kingdoms  into 
exile,  in  mercy  will  restore  them  to  favor.     Then  he  will 

*  Compare  the  interesting  but  mistaken  rendering  of  the  Vulgate. 


250  ISAIAH.  [XI.  ii,  12 

a  second  time,  the  first  being  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Exodus  (v.  16),  put  forth  *  his  hand  to  redeem  Israel. 
This  time,  however,  the  redeemed  will  be  but  the  rem- 
nant of  his  people,  viz.  those  that  are  left,  when  they  are 
summoned  from  the  countries  into  which  they  have  been 
driven.  Eight  such  countries  are  enumerated.  The 
first  are  Assyria  and  Egypt.  They  are  the  two  whose 
names  are  used  by  Hosea  (xi.  n)  in  a  similar  prophecy, 
and  probably  the  only  ones  originally  mentioned  in  this 
passage.  See  v.  15.  The  first  of  the  added  names  is 
Pathros,  Upper  Egypt,  whither  some  of  the  Jews  escaped 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (Jer.  xliv.  1).  Isaiah 
could  not  well  have  referred  to  it  as  a  distinct  country. 
He  did  not  distinguish  even  between  Egypt  and  Kush, 
Ethiopia,  for  the  reason  that,  in  his  time,  both  countries 
were  under  the  same  government.  See  xviii.  1  ff.  ;  f 
xx.  3 ;  xxx.  2.  After  these  two  western,  two  more 
eastern  countries  are  added,  Elam,  at  the  head  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  whose  capital,  Shushan,  became  the  prin- 
cipal residence  of  the  Persian  kings  (Neh.  i.  1),  and 
Shinar,  Babylonia.  The  last  two  are  Hamath  ±  and  the 
countries  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
(Gen.  x.  5). 

12.  When  the  time  comes  to  fulfil  his  purpose,  Jehovah 
will  uplift  a  signal  to  the  nations.     This  time,  however, 

*  The  text  has  rfD1,)  add,  after  which,  as  in  Num.  xi.  25,  a  verb,  e.g., 
rf?U\  is  to  be  supplied,  or  V*VS,  a  second  time,  changed  to  HW,  set  (Ex. 
xxiii.  1),  or  PXt£\  raise  (Eze.  xx.  5  f.). 

t  The  point  of  the  reference  in  this  case  is  not  in  the  name  Kush, 
which,  as  Duhm  asserts,  is  doubtless  a  gloss,  but  in  the  fact  that  Ethiopia 
here  represents  the  dual  empire  of  Tirhaka. 

X  For  Plan  Cornill  (ZA  IV,  1884,  93)  proposes  to  read  KJIttPlK,  Egba- 
tana,  here  Media  (Ezr.  vi.  2).     See  2  Kgs.  xviii.  II. 


XI.  12-14]  COMMENTS.  251 

they  will  be  commissioned,  not  to  destroy  (v.  26),  but  to 
restore  the  outcast  of  Israel  .  .  .  and  the  scattered  *  of 
Judah,  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  all  parts  of 
the  East  and  the  West.     See  xlix.  22. 

13.  One  of  the  means  by  which  God's  people  were 
permitted  to  destroy  themselves,  was  internal  strife 
(ix.  17/18  ff.).  After  the  restoration  there  will  be  noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  Then  shall  the  envy  of  Ephraim,  by 
Judah,  depart,  and  the  vexers  of  Judah,  in  Ephraim,  be 
destroyed.  On  the  other  hand,  Ephraim  shall  not  envy 
Judah,  nor  shall  Judah  vex  Ephraim.  In  other  words, 
the  two  nations  will  be  reunited  in  a  single  common- 
wealth, and  henceforth  live  in  peace  and  amity. t 

14.  The  reunited  people,  however,  will  not  be  content 
with  anything  less  than  the  possession  of  the  entire 
Promised  Land,  they  shall  pounce,  like  a  bird  of  prey 
(Hab.  ii.  8),  upon  the  shoulders,  in  modern  parlance, 
backs,  \  of  the  Philistines  westward,  together  shall  they 
plunder  the  sons  of  the  East,  the  wandering  tribes  of  the 
eastern  desert.  See  Gen.  xxix.  1  ;  Jud.  vi.  3  ;  Jer.  xlix. 
28;  comp.  Gen.  xxv.  13.  Their  remaining  neighbors, 
also,  are  to  be  subdued,  —  Edom  .  .  .  Moab  .  .  .  and 
the  sons  of  Ammon ;  and  the  boundaries  of  the  kingdom 

*  The  word  outcast,  in  the  original,  is  masculine,  while  the  word  scat- 
tered is  feminine.  The  change  of  gender  does  not  mean  that  only  males 
of  Israel  and  females  of  Judah  are  to  be  redeemed;  it  is  merely  the 
Hebrew  way  of  saying  that  both  sexes  will  be  represented  among  the 
returning  exiles.     See  iii.  I. 

t  This  interpretation,  which  is  perfectly  defensible,  makes  it  unneces- 
sary, with  Duhm,  to  pronounce  the  second  distich  a  gloss. 

\  For  ^rO,  so  pointed  because  it  was  supposed  to  have  indirect  ref- 
erence to  the  geography  of  Philistia  (Jos.  xv.  11),  read  P]P?.  Comp. 
Skinner. 


252  ISAIAH.  [XI.  14,  15 

of  David  thus  reestablished.  See  Am.  ix.  12.  It  is 
possible,  perhaps,  to  harmonize  this  prediction  with 
w.  1-9,  but  it  can  hardly  be  reconciled  with  v.  10.  See, 
also,  ii.  2  ff. 

15.  There  follow  two  verses  that  continue  the  subject 
of  v.  12,  and  therefore  properly  belong  between  it  and 
v.  13.  They  describe  the  way  in  which  Jehovah  will 
bring  the  outcast  back  to  their  country.  He  will  dry- 
up  *  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian,  i.e.,  the  Red,  Sea,  as  he 
did  at  the  first  exodus,  and  thus  make  a  way  for  those 
who  come  from  the  West.  For  those  who  come  from 
the  East  he  will  wave  his  hand  over  the  River,  the 
Euphrates,  at  the  same  time  letting  loose  upon  it  his 
mighty  wind, f  and  smite  it  into  seven,  i.e.,  a  large  num- 
ber of,  streams,  canals  such  as  those  into  which  it  was 
actually  divided  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  It  will  then 
no  longer  be  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  returning 
captives ;  for  one  can  cross  it  in  sandals. 

*  S"Hnn,  in  harmony  with  the  Peshita  and  the  Targum,  for  D'HITI,  lay 
under  ban. 

f  The  text  has  IITH  DTS,  which  is  usually  rendered  with  the  glow  of  his 
wind,  i.e.,  his  glowing  wind.  It  presents  various  difficulties.  In  the  first 
place,  if  the  reading  D'l?  is  correct,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  it  has 
the  meaning  given  to  it.  Secondly,  if  the  word  is  correctly  rendered,  the 
phrase  to  which  it  belongs  is  evidently  misplaced;  since  the  Euphrates  is 
not  to  be  dried  up,  but  smitten  into  streams  so  small  that  they  will  be 
easily  passable.  Finally,  if  the  phrase  belongs  to  the  first  line,  it  can 
hardly  be  an  original  part  of  it,  since  it  lengthens  the  line  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  others  of  the  verse.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  with  Duhm, 
to  pronounce  the  whole  a  gloss,  or  explain  or  emend  it  so  as  to  make 
it  fit  its  present  context.  Krochmal,  following  the  Septuagint,  suggests 
mil  E¥U3,  with  the  strength  of  his  wind,  i.e.,  with  his  strong  wind ;  but 
since,  in  the  record  of  which  this  is  a  reminiscence  (Ex.  xiv.  21),  the  ex- 
pression used  is  mi?  m~l,  a  strong  wind,  a  more  probable  conjecture  is 
"im  VTO5,  with  the  same  meaning.     See  xlii.  25;   Ps.  cxlv.  6. 


XI.  I6-XII.  2]  COMMENTS.  253 

1 6.  Thus  there  shall  be  a  highway  .  .  .  from  Assyria, 
as  there  was  .  .  .  from  Egypt.* 

When  Jehovah  delivered  his  people  from  bondage  in 
Egypt,  they  sang  his  praise  on  the  hither  shore  of  the 
Red  Sea  (Ex.  xv.).  So,  also,  when  the  ransomed  return 
to  their  country,  they  will  celebrate  their  redemption  in 

(c)  So/igs  of  Deliverance  (xii.).  —  The  first  effect  of  this 
new  evidence  of  Jehovah's  love  will  find  expression  in 

a.  a  song  of  faith  (vv.  1-3). —  1.  It  opens  with  a 
burst  of  gratitude,  I  will  praise  thee ;  and  the  reason 
for  it,  although  thou  wast  angry  with  me,  on  account 
of  my  sins,  now  that  thy  anger,  being  satisfied,  is  turned  f 
(ix.  1 1 ),  thou  comfortest  me.  The  first  person  is  here, 
as  in  many  at  least  of  the  Psalms,  collective.  The 
nation,  as  one  man,  confess  their  past  disloyalty,  and 
attribute  their  present  happiness  solely  to  the  mercy  of 
God. 

2.  Their  indebtedness  to  Jehovah  finds  further  expres- 
sion in  the  glad  acclamation,  Lo,  the  God  of  my  deliver- 
ance !  for  it  looks  backward  as  well  as  forward.  In  fact, 
it  is  the  experience  of  Jehovah's  helpfulness  in  the  past 
that  warrants  them  in  saying,  I  will  trust  and  not  trem- 
ble, be  tormented  by  fear  or  uncertainty.  Then  follows, 
as  a  statement  of  the  ground  of  this  confidence,  a  quota- 
tion from  the  song  of  Moses  (xv.  2):  my  strength,  the  one 
on  whom  I  relied  for  strength,  and  therefore  my  song,  X 

*  This  verse  is  a  remarkable  example  of  the  fondness  of  the  Hebrews 
for  assonance.  Of  the  fourteen  words  of  which  it  is  composed  all  but  five 
contain  a  sibilant. 

t  The  translation  is  intended  to  give  the  jussive  2'i",  lit.  let  turn,  a 
conditional  force.     See  Ges.  §  109,  2,  b\  comp.  §  109,  2,  b,  R.;  Dri.  §  174. 

\  Tna?  for  ma?.     Comp.  Ges.  §  So,  R,  2,  b. 


254  ISAIAH.  [XII.  2-5 

the  object  of  my  praise,  was  Jah,*  i.e.,  as  is  explained  in 
a  gloss,  Jehovah  ;  and  he  has  not  disappointed  me,  but 
become  my  deliverance. 

3.  The  Hebrews  escaped  from  the  Egyptians  only  to 
find  themselves  in  danger  of  perishing  with  thirst ;  but 
Jehovah  came  to  their  relief,  and,  throughout  their 
wanderings  in  the  desert,  by  one  means  and  another, 
he  supplied  them  with  water.  The  prophet  promises 
his  people,  that  they,  also,  shall  draw  water  with  glad- 
ness from  wells  of  deliverance,  constantly  rejoice  in  the 
presence  of  Jehovah  as  a  deliverer. 

The  second  song  prompted  by  the  contemplation  of 
the  deliverance  wrought  will  be 

/3.  a  song  of  praise  (4-6). — 4.  It  is  throughout 
hortatory.  The  people  are  exhorted  to  Praise  Jehovah, 
and  to  call  upon  his  name,  i.e.,  recognize  him  as  their 
God  (Deu.  x.  20;  Isa.  xxvi.  13).  Nor  are  they  to  stop 
here.  They  are  to  make  known  among  the  peoples  sur- 
rounding them  his  deeds,  especially  the  manifestation 
of  his  power  in  their  recent  deliverance  ;  and  thus  most 
effectually  proclaim  that  his  name  is  exalted,  that  he 
deserves  honor  and  worship  above  all  other  gods.  The 
first  two  lines  of  this  verse  occur  also  in  Ps.  cv.  1.  The 
last  is  found,  slightly  modified,  in  Ps.  cxlviii.  13.! 

5.    Extol  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  wrought  gloriously  is 

*  This  contracted  form  of  the  divine  name  is  rare  except  in  the  ex- 
pression IT  rSOTt,  EV,  Praise  ye  the  lord,  in  some  of  the  later  psalms. 
Jastrow  (ZAIV,  1896,  6f.)  explains  it  as  an  artificial  abbreviation  of  the 
name  rHiT,  Jehovah,  which  has  here  taken  the  place  of  the  final  letter  of 
the  preceding  word.     The  Septuagint  have  nothing  to  correspond  to  it. 

t  Bickell  suggests  that  the  original  of  the  song  had  only  the  first  and 
third  of  these  lines,  and  that  the  second  was  involuntarily  inserted  by  a 
copyist.  Is  it  not,  however,  more  probable  that  the  third  was  added  by 
a  reader  as  an  explanation  of  the  second? 


XII.  5,  6]  COMMENTS.  255 

another  reminiscence  of  Ex.  xv.  (v.  i).     The  second  line 
repeats  the  second  of  v.  4.* 

6.  The  glorious  things  that  Jehovah  has  wrought  in 
themselves  furnish  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  most  exu- 
berant praise.  Their  significance,  however,  is  not 
exhausted,  when  they  are  regarded  merely  as  historical 
facts.  In  addition  they  are  a  guarantee  for  the  future. 
This  is  the  thought  of  the  final  exhortation  to  Shout  and 
sing,  sing  lustily,  addressed  to  the  dwellers  in  Zion.| 
It  appears  in  the  causal  sentence  with  which  the  verse 
and  the  chapter  close,  for  great,  in  power  as  well  as  in 
goodness,  in  your  midst,  as  a  friend  and  protector,  is 
the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  % 

The  future  of  God's  people  —  this  was  the  thought 
that  lay  on  the  heart,  and  busied  the  thoughts,  both  of 
Isaiah  and  the  later  prophet  by  whom  the  preceding 
chapters  were  put  into  their  present  form  and  order. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  what  they  taught  concerning 
it.  They  had  to  confess  that  the  Israel  of  their  day 
fell  far  short  of  deserving  to  be  called  the  chosen  of 
Jehovah,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  not  strange  that 
they  should  have  suffered  from  his  displeasure ;  but 
both  alike  believed  with  all  their  hearts,  that  this  period 
of  estrangement  and  misfortune  was  to  be  followed  by 
a  restoration  to  favor  and  prosperity,  and  they  did  what 
they  could  to  hasten  such  a  consummation. 

*  For  TOTE  read,  with  the  Masoretes,  niHlti. 

t  The  original  has  the  feminine  singular,  inhabitress ;  but  this,  like  the 
word  daughter  in  similar  connections  (x.  30),  is  doubtless  equivalent  to 
a  collective. 

\  On  the  date  of  this  chapter  comp.  FBrown  and  WHCobb,  JBL, 
1890,  I.  128  ff.  and  1891,  II.  131  ff. 


INDEXES. 


I.    TOPICS  TREATED. 


Additions  to  Isaiah :  extent,  48  f., 
56  f.;  character,  53,  III  ff., 
132  ft,  135  f.,  141  f.,  159  f.,  169, 
204  f.,  218  f.,  234  f.,  249;  style, 
159,  234  f.,  236;  standpoint, 
135  f.,  141. 

Ahaz,  31  ff.,  36  f.,  46  f.,  82,  126,  130, 
171  ff.,  186,  192,  193,  196. 

Amos,  influence  of,  16,  22,  96,  131, 
154,  204,  216. 

Anathoth,  241. 

Antithesis,  27,  134,  182  f. 

Arpad,  227. 

Article  in  Hebrew,  180. 

Ashdod,  39  f.,  47,  50. 

Ashkelon,  41  f.,  43. 

Asshurbanipal,  176. 

Assonance,  122,  241,  253. 

Assyria : 

character:    avarice,  230 ;  cruelty, 
231  f.;  pride,  226  ff;  style,  232. 
government:  governors,  226;  trib- 
ute, 32,  38,  39,  42,  44,  209. 
history :    relations  with    the    He- 
brews, 35  ff,  227;    with  other 
peoples,  226  f. 
representative  of  the  world-power, 
229,  236  f.,  250,  253. 

Augurer,  116. 


Ayyath,  239. 
Azariah.     See  Uzziah. 

Catchwords,  55,  196. 
Cedar.     See  Lebanon. 
Champion  of  Israel,  103. 
Chronicles,  authority  of,  36,  90. 
Chronology:  difficulties,  32 ff.;  table 

of  Kings,  46  f.;   of  chapters  i.- 

xxxix.,  56  f. 
Construciio  pregnans,  223. 

Diviner,  116,  124. 

Egypt,  36  ff,  187  f.,  237,  250,  252  ff. 

Ekron,  41,  43. 

Elam,  250. 

Eltekeh :  battle  of,  41  f.,  43;  capture 

of,  43- 
Eponym  Canon,  227. 
Errors  in  division  of  text :  chapters, 

123,  136,  204;  verses,  95  f.,  97, 

112,    158,    203,    219  f.,  233  f., 

241. 
Esarhaddon,  45,  47,  176. 
Exodus,  references  to  the,  66  f.,  78, 

80,  141  f.,  237  f.,  250,  252  ff. 


Feminine,  uses  of,  124,  251,  255. 


257 


25S 


INDEXES. 


Galilee,  206  f. 
Gallim,  241. 
Geba,  240. 
Gebim,  241. 
Gibea,  240. 
Gihon,  193. 

Hamath,  32,  35,  3S,  227,  250,  254. 
Hanno  of  Gaza,  36,  38  f. 
Hezekiah,  22,  31,  33  f.,  39  ff.,  47,  82, 

186,  228. 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  85,  153,  163,  255. 
Hosea,  influence  of,  16,  102,  239. 
Hoshea,  33,  37  f.,  47- 

laudi,  32  f. 

laudu,  39. 

Idolatry,  101,  106,  117,  122,  228  f. 

Immanuel:  his  significance,  181  ff.;  a 
contrast  to  the  child  of  ix.,  210. 

Infinitive  absolute,  145,  200. 

Inspiration,  20,  56,  81,  161  f. 

Interrogation,  27. 

Isaiah : 

book:  composition, 48 f. ;  arrange- 
ment, 49 ff.;  date,  52;  object  of 
arrangement,  52  ff.;  origin  of 
collection,  54  f. ;  twofold  inter- 
pretation, 55  f. ;  chronological 
table,  56  f.;  topical  table,  58  f. 
character:  equanimity,  19  f., 
174  ff.;  sagacity,  21  f.,  200  ff.; 
hopefulness,  23  f.,  136  ff.,  207  ff. 
ideas :  of  God,  161  ff.;  of  religion, 
92  ff.,  139  f. ;  of  salvation,  99  f., 
137  ff.,  209,  245  ff;  of  the  Mes- 
siah, 214  f.,  245  ff. 
life:  birth,  16;  standing,  16;  call, 
17  f.,  34,  160  ff;  end,  18,  45; 
age,  34. 


name,  81,  201. 

style:  conciseness,  25  f. ;  vividness, 

27;    richness,   28  ff;    freedom, 

30;   importance,  31. 
work  :  duration,  17,  31  f.;  method, 

18,  22;   results,  18,  22. 
Israel,  meanings  of  the  name,  84, 146, 

216. 
Israel,  the  nation  :  its  history,  35  ff; 

its  kings,  46  f.,  90  ff,  146,  171  f., 

216  ff.;    its  fate,   156  ff,   169  f., 

175  f.,  184  f.,  190  ft. 

Jacob,  meanings  of,  112,  115,  201, 
216. 

Jeberekiah,  191. 

Jehoahaz.     See  Ahaz. 

Jehovah  of  Hosts,  89. 

Jeroboam  II.,  34,  36. 

Jerusalem:  used  for  Judah,  91 ;  per- 
sonified, 89,  135. 

Jesus:  his  adaptation  of  Isaiah's 
parable,  30,  145;  fulfilment  of 
Isaiah's  hopes,  215. 

Judah:  origin,  185;  extent,  34,  239; 
history,  39  ff. ;  future,  123  ft., 
136,  187ft.,  *93ff-»  20°- 

Judah  and  Jerusalem,  82,  109. 

Kalno,  226. 
Karkemish,  226. 
Kush,  250. 

Laish,  241. 

Lakish,  44. 

Law,  the  ceremonial,  96. 

Lebanon:  cedars  of,  120,  217;   as  a 

figure,  242. 
Lord,  the  divine  name,  103. 


INDEXES. 


259 


Madmenah,  241. 
Magician,  125. 

Maher-shalal-hash-baz,  191  f.,  201. 
Mamilla,  Tool  of,  173,  194. 
Manasseh,  18,  34,  45,  47. 
Menahem,  32,  35,  46. 
Metaphor,  26,  27,  30,  101. 
Meteorology  of  Palestine :    rainfall, 

107;   extremes,  142. 
Migron,  240. 
Mikmash,  240. 
Milucha,  40. 
Morals  in  Isaiah's  time,  97  f.,  IOI  f., 

I28ff.,  148  ff. 

Necromancer,  117. 
Nob,  241  f. 

Oak,  120. 

Parable,  27,  143. 

Parallelism,  100,  112,  137,  152,  197, 

223. 
Paronomasia,     26,    85,     102,     117, 

146  f.,  176,  194. 
Pathros,  250. 

Pekah,  35  ff.,  46,  171  ff.,  197  f. 
Pekahiah,  35,  46. 
Perfect  in  Hebrew,  208. 
Prophets:    origin,    15;     inspiration, 

20;   office,  21,  125,  219. 
Psalm  of  Hezekiah,  49. 
Pul.     See  Tiglath-pileser. 

Ramah,  240. 

Raphia,  battle  of,  38  f.,  47. 

Relation  of  Jehovah  to  his  people : 

paternal,  83 f.;   conjugal,  101. 
Resin,  35  f.,  171  ft.,  197  f. 


Rhythm,    30,    86,   90,    158,   203  f, 

229,  244. 
Ritual  in  Isaiah's  time,  93  ff. 

Samaria,  37  ff.,  47,  91,  227  ff. 
Sargon  II.,   38  ff.,    47,    91  f.,    205, 

226  ff.,  232. 
Sennacherib,  20,  40  ff.,  47,  50,  91, 

226,  228,  230  ff. 
Shabaka,  37  f.,  47. 
Shabataka,  40,  47. 
Shalmaneser  IV.,  37  f.,  47,  205. 
Shear-yashub,    19,   23  f.,    172,   201, 

207. 
Sibu,  37  f.,  39. 
Signs,  1 79  f.,  185  f. 
Siloam:    pool   of,   193;    tunnel   of, 

193  f- 

Simile,  29,  30,  172. 
So.     See  Sibu. 
Soothsayer,  202. 

Tarshish,  121. 

Taylor  Cylinder,  42  ff.,  226. 

Terebinth,  107. 

Tiglath-pileser  III.,  32,  35  ff.,  46  f., 

50,  187  f.,  192,  205,  217,  227. 
Tirhaka,  40  f.,  47,  188. 

Uriah,  191. 

Uzziah,  31  ff.,  34  f.,  46,  82,  117,  161. 

Vocabulary  of  Isaiah,  28. 

Waw  consecutive,  II 8,  152,  191. 
Wealth  in  Isaiah's  time,  34,  117. 
Wine,  87,  101  f.,  149  f.,  154. 

Zion,  personified,  89,  140. 


260 


INDEXES. 


II.     AUTHORS   QUOTED. 


A  ben  Ezra,  180. 

Alexander,  1 30,  1 5 1,  1 62,  179,  204, 

241,  248. 
Aristophanes,  101. 
Ascension  of  Isaiah,  18. 

Bathgen,  212. 

Barnes,  120. 

Barth,  204. 

Baudissin,  86,  106,  107,  163. 

Beecher,  38. 

Bickell,  244,  254. 

Bottcher,      116;       sEhrenl.,      129; 

Lehrb.,  195. 
Bredenkamp,  87,  125,  142,  172,  183, 

191,  199,  201,  202,  217,  225. 
Brenz,  116. 

Brown,  30,  119,  135,  255. 
Budde,  103. 
Buhl,  33,  88,  153, 1642,  172, 185,  223, 

246. 

Calvin,  167,  174,  243. 

Cheyne :  IB  I,  33,  49,  84,  86,  91,  101, 
104,  106,  in,  141,  156,  176, 
184,  188,  196,  219,  2222,  227, 
234,  248;  PI,  84,  87,  129,  141, 
164,  170,  196,  200,  211. 

Cobb,  255. 

Conder,  240. 

Cornill:  PI,  22;  ZA  W,  S52,  196, 
250. 

Davidson,  A.  B.,  180,  200. 
Davidson,  S.,  191. 

Delitzsch,  Franz,  33,  87,  88,  100, 
1052,  no,    113,  116,   118,  125, 


126,  129,  133,  139,  142, 

146, 

150,  151,  154,  158,  160, 

163, 

1642,  165,  173,   175,  1S0, 

184, 

l9°>  '93>  2°°,   2°2>  2°3> 

209, 

212,  219,  220,  224,  236, 

2372> 

241,  245. 

Delitzsch,  Fried.,  40,  226,  227. 

de  Dieu,  151. 

Dillmann,  88,  123, 142, 146, 170 

,181, 

190,  195,  202,  203,  222. 

Doderlein,  105. 

Driver :    Intr.,  33,  90;    Sam., 

194; 

Tenses,  84,  118'2,  119,  151, 

>95> 

216,  230,  231,  253. 

Duhm,  28,  94,  97,  99,  101,  103, 

1042, 

no,   in,   115,  116,  118, 

1192, 

126,   127,    135,   136,    137, 

141, 

151,   152,    153,    156,   158, 

160, 

164,   165,    177,    178,   180, 

191, 

196,  1992,  204,  208,  219, 

221, 

228,  231,   236,  238,  239, 

242, 

245,  246,   248,  250,  251. 

Duncker,  33. 

Durell,  104,  153. 

Eichhorn,  132,  138. 

English  Version,  81,  105,  137,  151, 

204,211;  AV,\\\;  RV,  190. 
Ewald:  Lehrb.,  108,213;   PAB,  83, 

121,  151,  176,  222. 

Frere,  101. 

Fiirst :   Cone,  103;  KAT,  23. 

Geikie,  241,  242. 

Gesenius :   Com.,  99,  121,  138,  147; 
Gram.,  84,  85,  87,  89s,  97,  100, 


INDEXES. 


Z(A 


101,  1032,  106,  1172,  iiS3,  119-, 
122,  124,  12S2,  131-,  1325,  135, 
142,  145,  153,  164,  167,  16S-, 
174,  176,  180,  1812,  183,  195, 
19S,  2002,  203,  2042,  205,  20S, 

213,   2l6,    2lS,   223,    2242,    230, 

231-,  25 32;    Thes.t  175. 

Giesebrecht,  156,  235. 

Guthe:  ZDPV,  174;  ZJ,  213,  226. 

Hackmann,  90,  104,  141,  169,  187. 
Henderson,  89,  III,  113,  162,  172, 

177, 193,  202,  223,  228,  241,  245. 
Hengstenberg,  139. 
Henry,  85,  113,  118,  152,  248. 
Herodotus,  45. 
Hitzig,  89,  100,  109,  no,  123,  147, 

153,  164,  194,  217,  225. 
Houbigant,  217. 

Jastrow,  254. 
Jerome,  13S. 

Josephus:  A/,  38,  88;  JIV,  1732, 
207. 

Kamphausen,  3$. 

Kautsch,  141. 

Kay,  11S,  124,  132,  179,  183. 

Kellner,  59. 

Kimchi,  D.,  180. 

Kittel,  33,  176. 

Klostermann,  36,  171. 

Knobel,  121,  153,  180. 

Kocher,  142. 

Konig,  176,  213. 

Koppe,  48. 

Krochmal,  1 16,  208,  220,  245,  252. 

de  Lagarde:  Acad.,  224;  Sem.,  54, 
108,  no,  115,  122,  172,  177, 
217,  218,  219,  247. 


Layard,  37. 

Lowth,  88,  116,  132,  134,  142,  225, 

247. 
Luther,  105,  148,  211. 
Luzzatto,  115,  147,   175,   204,   211, 

237  f- 

McCurdy,  33,  37,  382,  40,  452.  2272. 
Menander,  38. 

Meyer,  33,  38,  40,  45,  188,  227. 
Michaelis,  J.  D.,  89,  99,  217. 
Mitchell:  Amos,  5,  16;  AR,  1S6. 
Miihlau  and  Volck,  81,  175. 
Miiller,  100. 

Nagelsbach,  93,  113,  128,  130,  139, 
140,  164,  177,  181,  190,  192, 
193- 

Olshausen,  87,  213,  230. 

von  Orelli,  85,  902,  93,  107,  115, 
126,  139,  147,  153,  154.  162, 
1S0,  191,  194,  201,  210,  216, 
235- 

Peshita,  105,  130,  132,  166,  224,  241, 

252. 
Peters,  133. 
Piepenbring,  167. 
Porter,  186,  198. 

Ragozin,  32,  38,  41,  44,  158,  189, 

227s,  230. 
Rawlinson:  SAE,  188;  SP,  38. 
Reuss,  127,  139,  183. 
Riehm,  1 16,  149,  150,  158,  lS9,202, 

240. 
Robinson,  173,  194,  2392. 
Roorda,  139. 
Rosenmuller,  125. 


262 


INDEXES. 


Saadia,  115. 
Scheid,  89*. 
Schrader:  KAT,  32*,  37s,  3S*,  392, 

402,  42,  82,  171,  176,  226,  2274; 

KB,  322,  37s,  38-,  393,  40,  42, 

45,    209,    226,    2274,    23O2,    231, 

232;  KGF,  32. 
Schroder,  133. 
Seeker,  221,  225. 
Septuagint,  84,  86,  94s,  95,  101,  105, 

106,  in,    115,   118,    123,    128, 

129,   1302,  132,   140,   141,  142, 

148,   166,   168,   169,  175,   181, 

197,  204,  211,  216,  217,   225, 

231,  246s,  252,  254. 
Siegfried  and  Stade,  87. 
Skinner,   102,   124,   205,   223,    239, 

251. 
Smith,  G.,  151. 
Smith,   G.   A.,  HGHL,    188,   206; 

Isa.,  156,  164. 
Smith,  W.,  116,  133,  149,  158. 
Smith,  W.  R.:  JP,  2381".;  PI,  22, 

86. 
Stade:   GVI,  45,  174,  194;   ZAW, 

132,  141. 
Studer,  80. 


Targum,  106,  121,  128,  139,  142,  252. 

Thenius,  149. 

Thomson,  S9,    106,   120,    142,   144, 

217,  220. 
Tiele,  37,  38,  40,  41,  227. 
Toy,  1  Si. 
Tristram,  89,   107,   120,    1 83,  246s, 

247s. 

Umbreit,  180. 
Usher,  32,  34. 

Valentiner,  241. 

Van  Lennep,    113,   132,   134,   136, 

144,  183. 
van  de  Velde,  240. 
Vitringa,  83,  112,  1 21,  1 28,  183. 
Vulgate,  84,  86,  105,  132,  191,  249. 

Weir,  S9. 

Wellhausen,  246;   SV,  213. 
Wickes,  86,  90,  94,  155,  199. 
Wilson,  Warren,  etc.,  173,  194. 
Winckler:   AF,  33;    AU,   37,  402, 
118,  175,  227,  238;    UAG,  38. 

Zwingli,  139. 


III.     PASSAGES  INCIDENTALLY   EXPLAINED. 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Gen. 

ii.  18, 

248 

1  Kgs.  xi.  23, 

175 

Ex. 

iii.  12, 

186 

xii.  10, 

205 

xiv.  21, 

252 

2  Kgs.  v.  4  (iv.  24) 

206 

XV., 

253  ff. 

xv.  29, 

205 

Lev. 

xxiii., 

95 

30, 

33 

Jos. 

viii.  20, 

94 

33, 

33 

INDEXES. 


263 


PACE 

PAGE 

2KgS 

xvi.  1, 

33 

Jer. 

xlvi.  8, 

231 

5. 

171 

Eze. 

xxii.  21, 

212 

6, 

36 

Hos. 

ii.  1-3  (i. 

10-ii.  1),       235 

xvii.  4, 

37 

v.  8, 

239 

xviii.    I, 

36 

Am. 

ii.  8, 

154 

IO, 

33 

9ff., 

2l6 

13. 

33 

v.  20, 

204 

xviii.  13-xix 

37, 

44  f. 

Mic. 

iv.  1  ff., 

I  IO  ff. 

xviii.  13-xx. 

21, 

48 

f->55 

V.  2, 

240 

xix.  29, 

186 

3, 

210 

XX.  20, 

194 

4, 

212 

Isa. 

xiv.  24-27, 

234 

Zee. 

iii.  8, 

137 

Jer. 

iv.  16  f.„ 

89 

vi.  12, 

137 

xv.    5, 

157 

Ps. 

xlix.  3/2, 

Il8 

21, 

245 

lxxiv.  12, 

238 

xxiii.  5, 

137  f- 

Can. 

v.  4, 

247 

xxxiii.  15, 

137  f- 

Mat. 

i.  22  f., 

179,  l82 

IV.     HEBREW  EXPRESSIONS  DISCUSSED. 


PAGE 

PACK 

piK,  lord, 

103 

1133,  honor,  wealth, 

I50 

din,  man  .  .  .  mankind, 

118 

•0,  for,  but, 

I46 

htt,  not, 

167 

S3,  all,  every, 

87, 

142 

Sn,  lord,  god,  God, 

212 

mxi1?,  to  see, 

93 

13,  purity,  flux  (?), 

104 

sopD,  proclamation,  holiday, 

94  f. 

N"U,  create, 

141 

ixj,  watch, 

89 

S^Sj,  district,  Galilee, 

206 

i}?,  booty,  continuance, 

213 

n>m,  And  it  shall  come 

1 3  hy,  therefore, 

156 

to  pass, 

109 

no  "?p,  why, 

179 

|irn,  vision, 

81 

^r:^;,  young  woman, 

179 

12D,  be  heavy, 

205 

mx>>,  restraint,  festival, 

95 

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